The latest Scientific American Worldview Scorecard, released at the recent BIO 2015 International Convention, which ranks the biotechnology innovation potential of 54 countries, finds that the U.S. is the leading country once again based on its performance in seven categories used in the study, with Denmark and three Asia-Pacific countries – New Zealand, Australia and Singapore – rounding out the top five.

Biotech's great run has been achieved despite a number of macroeconomic events along the way that periodically spooked the general markets, but left the confidence in the industry largely unscathed. Although the sector has managed to shrug off those stock market perturbations, it was a different story at the end of second quarter as the markets headed south.

Despite financial market turbulence toward the end of the second quarter, it did not derail the ability of biotechs to raise capital to fuel their programs although the tsunami of cash that flooded into their coffers during the first quarter did slow down considerably.

The torrid pace set by global private companies in the first quarter of the year, raising just shy of $2.4 billion, did not slow down in the second quarter – in fact, it increased. Thanks to several marquee deals, global private companies enjoyed another highly successful period attracting venture investments that totaled around $2.5 billion, eclipsing the record amount raised in the first quarter.

Biotech's great run has been achieved despite a number of macroeconomic events along the way that periodically spooked the general markets, but left the confidence in the industry largely unscathed. Although the sector has managed to shrug off those stock market perturbations, it was a different story at the end of second quarter as the markets headed south.

The latest Scientific American Worldview Scorecard, released at the BIO 2015 International Convention, which ranks the biotechnology innovation potential of 54 countries, finds that the U.S. is the leading country once again based on its performance in seven categories used in the study. This is the 7th edition of the Scorecard that tracks the maturation of the biotechnology industry around the world by analyzing and interpreting data derived from each country's annual development.

The annual death rate from cancer has been steadily declining since it hit a high point in 1991. Improving diagnosis and the discovery of innovative therapies have contributed to the significant progress that has been seen during this period.

PHILADELPHIA – There can be no greater advocate and leader of President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) than Francis Collins, director of the NIH, who was the keynote speaker kicking off the Personalized Medicine & Diagnostics track at the BIO 2015 International Convention.

PHILADELPHIA – Leroy Hood, president of the Institute for Systems Biology, is pushing to transform health care through the application P4 medicine that involves predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory approaches to improving wellness and intervening in diseases at the earliest stages before they can fully manifest. He presented his ideas in a session track on the closing day of the BIO International Convention.