Big things have always been expected to result from nanotechnology research and now that confidence is starting to pay dividends with potential second-generation therapeutic applications not too far away from becoming available to treat a number of major diseases. Scientific research has advanced our understanding of the many different functions nanoparticles play in optimizing drug delivery.
Despite the fact that biotech share values were heading south at the beginning of the second quarter of 2014, the short-lived negative environment failed to scare off investors completely, with companies maintaining the momentum built from the first quarter, as far as raising cash is concerned.
Deal flow for initial public offerings (IPOs) could be on pace to break the record number of offerings completed way back in 2000 at the height of the genomics boom. So far 44 global IPOs have climbed through the open window and, as of June 30, a further 37 were waiting in the wings. For those private companies not quite ready for IPO prime time, generating funding hasn't been a problem either, with more than $3 billion raised year to date, 73 percent more than the total raised at the same point last year.
There is no doubt that the close to 16,000 registered delegates attending the 2014 BIO International Convention in San Diego a couple of weeks ago returned home in positive mood. No surprise really because by any partnering or financial metric the statistics are pointing to the fact that biotechnology is in really good shape at the halfway point of the year.
SAN DIEGO – A decade has transpired since the FDA released its seminal report Innovation or Stagnation: Challenge and Opportunity on the Critical Path to New Medical Products in March 2004. The FDA did not pull any punches at that time in identifying the industry's inability to improve on the run rate of new product development despite having at its disposal advanced discovery tools such as genomics and investing billions of dollars into research and development.
SAN DIEGO - The biotechnology industry continues to expand its global footprint, giving rise to an ever-increasing number of new biotech clusters, particularly in emerging countries. Cities around the world are latching onto the significant economic potential that a thriving biotech hub can bring.
SAN DIEGO – An analysis of the future of prescription drug sales will no doubt be music to the ears of innovative drug developers who have experienced a period of slow growth during the past couple of years as the impact of patent expirations have taken their toll.
SAN DIEGO – The opening of the 2014 Biotechnology Industry Organization's (BIO) International Convention in San Diego this week ends a period of some six years since the industry's flagship meeting convened here on the West Coast. A great deal has transpired in the intervening period. For example, it would be a safe bet to say that not many of the 20,000 registered delegates back then could have predicted that they were only just a few months away from the start of an unprecedented global economic meltdown that sent the capital markets into freefall during 2009.
Any thoughts that initial public offerings (IPOs) for biotech companies have run out of steam will have to change those ideas. Wall Street is certainly warming up to biotech IPOs once again. Following this week's IPO pricing and strong market debut by ZS Pharma Inc., Fremont, Calif.-based Ardelyx Inc. followed suit, taking advantage of that renewed enthusiasm from investors and raised $60 million.
Despite the fact that the general markets took it on the chin toward the end of last week over concerns about unrest in Iraq and the resulting surge in energy prices, biotech companies did not follow suit. In fact, the period has seen the sector benefit from a steady flow of positive news flow to keep investors on side.
