Winter 2000/2001

Defending Against the Modern Plague: biotech brings new hope in HIV
Written by Alex Shimmings
The development of anti-retroviral therapies may have been one of medicine's success stories last century, but there is still a long way to go before HIV is beaten. While the disease ravages Africa, we look at how the Biotech industry is helping in the fight against AIDS.

In Silico Prediction: fortune-telling gets sophisticated
Written by Bradley J. Fikes
The idea that computers could one day embrace and surpass biological life is an old dystopian nightmare in science fiction. But harnessing the exponential growth of computing power may represent salvation for biotech and big pharma.

Biotech Real Estate: building a room with a view
Written by Cary Groner
As space gets scarcer and more expensive, biotech companies must devise creative solutions to keep a roof over their heads.

The Investment Rollercoaster: biotech's wild ride continues
Written by Cynthia Robbins-Roth, Ph.D.
A recurring theme on the pages of BIOPEOPLE has been the incredible volatility of biotech stocks. This is no new occurrence � biotech has been giving investors nosebleeds since its birth in the early 1980s. The year 2000 was no exception.

The Next, Even Bigger, Thing: the academic/industrial research hybrid emerges
Written by Bruce Goldman
Assembling all the pieces of the human genomic puzzle into models of human cells and their interactions is a big order � one that will require the blurring of lines now separating one scientific discipline from another, and maybe even of those separating business and academia.

Would You Buy a Used Chromosome from this Man? a conversation with Alan Walton
Written by Cary Groner
In a candid and wide-ranging interview, venture capitalist Alan Walton discusses his spotted past, his apparently stellar future, and the most pressing issues for biotech � today and in 20 years.

Autumn 2000

Life Will Find a Way: starting and operating companies outside the mainstream
Written by Stefan Borg
Between Boston and Washington, DC, and between San Francisco and San Diego lie the two main corridors of biotech enterprise and expertise. In recent years, many new clusters have sprung up outside these areas, despite them missing some essential components. Stefan Borg reflects on the challenges of building a company outside the mainstream.

Therapy Focus
Cardiovascular Disease: biotech tackles matters of the heart
Written by Bradley J. Fikes
Cancer is feared by millions and AIDS represents a uniquely terrible affliction. But however you measure it - in numbers of people affected or money spent - the unquestioned disease champion is cardiovascular disease.

Lab on a Chip: scaling down to streamline drug discovery and development
Written by Stephen J. Williams
The biopharmaceutical industry is realizing that in order to scale-up drug discovery efforts, it needs to scale-down the apparatus on which experiments are performed. The miniaturization process is on the verge of reducing the central elements of such equipment down to the size of a silicon chip. Here we review some of the current and anticipated applications of this technology.

Biotech Regional Development
Going to Bat for You - Part I: nothing succeeds like success
Written by Cary Groner
Your local trade organization and state government ought to be working together to meet your need to succeed. In fact, they may have become nearly indistinguishable from one other. As new forms of advocacy evolve to promote the industry, be sure you don't get left in the dust.

Biotechnology in Canada: land of opportunity
By Peter Winter
While Canada's biotech industry still lags a few years behind that of the US in terms of its development, there are clear indicators that the long-term support from government and the venture capital community is starting to pay off as technological innovations are now emerging into commercial reality.

Biotech Regional Development
Going to Bat for You - Part Two: from the minors to the majors
Written by Cary Groner
In Part 1, we looked at areas where biotechnology grew naturally, and how local trade organizations (TOs) and state agencies nurtured that growth - or failed to. In Part 2 we examine how several regions built their biotech industries nearly from scratch - and what other places can learn from their struggles.

Population Genetics Holds the Key: a conversation with Paul Kelly
Written by Susan Aldridge
Paul Kelly co-founded Gemini Genomics to exploit the sequence of the human genome by comparing clinical and genomic data collected from twins. Since then, numerous deals and an IPO on Nasdaq have propelled Gemini to the forefront of the genomics race - a race Kelly thinks is most likely to be won by collaboration.

Summer 2000

The World is your Audience: communicating through the web
By Anthony J. Russo, Ph.D.
In the rush to represent themselves on the web, biotech companies often just bombard the viewer with information with no thought of strategy. Just imagine the potential of tailoring your web site to fit your audience's needs.

Wall St. Views
Biotechnology Outlook: surfing the waves
By Meg Malloy
Volatility has long been a trademark of the biotechnology sector, but never has it been manifest with such ceremony as it has in 2000. In this article, some of the factors behind the volatility and its impact on the investing and financing climate for the sector are examined.

Therapy Focus
Biotechnology to the Rescue in Rheumatoid Arthritis
By Dr Peter Charlish
Rheumatoid arthritis sufferers in the US have been given a boost in recent years with the launch of the first biotech drugs targeting the condition. Challenging big pharma's products, these new therapies are rapidly acquiring market share and are well on the way to achieving the much sought after blockbuster status.

Untangling the Web: biotechs go for world exposure
By Cary Groner
Attracting viewers to your company website is one thing, but getting them to stay and to look around is not as easy as it seems. This is the story of how web designers and companies are working together to create a unique, faster, more explosive online presence for biotech.

Breaking Up Bottlenecks: using the Internet to speed up clinical trials
By Vicki Brower
Why is it that drug development time has not shortened in spite of other bottlenecks in the process clearing? The answer is that, apart from the actual testing itself, massive delays occur and money is wasted in trial design, queries during the clinical trials about data, data cleaning and analysis.

Bioinformatics: bringing order from chaos
By Dr David Robbins
With massive amounts of data in hand, biotech is seeking knowledge and understanding. How can we make sense of the three billion nucleotides of the human genome? Companies in the bioinformatics arena are ready and willing to help.

Answering Biotech's Rallying Cry: a conversation with Tim Wilson
By Maria Burke
SG Cowen's Tim Wilson has never lost his great love for biology since leaving the lab and forging a career in banking. His desire to see the science applied in a worthwhile way has driven him to a position where he heads one of the largest biotech analyst teams in the banking world.

Spring 2000

The Brave New World of Bioware
Rodney Ferguson
Biological systems have long been regarded as elegant yet are remarkably complex. Take the information stored in DNA for example: three billion bases per strand per cell replicated without error time and time again. Just imagine what could happen if such biological power was harnessed with computational power and other high-tech innovations...

Taking On The Big C: from carpet-bombing to guided missiles
Bradley Fikes
There are nearly 500 anticancer products in clinical trials around the world, with over 800 products waiting in the preclinical wings. In the past, cancer was treated by carpet-bombing the patient with non-selective and debilitating therapies. But a greater understanding of the molecular basis of cancer is leading to a new generation of therapeutic agents.

BioAssays: cellular pathways to drug discovery
Peter Charlish
High-throughput discovery technologies have thrown up an enormous number of drug candidates. But how do you find the ones most likely to succeed in the clinic? Living-cell assays might have the answer...

The Mighty Mouse: how the humblest of creatures is transforming biomedical research
Cary Groner
It's customized, it's altered, it makes your antibodies, hosts your assays, and it asks for little food and less pay. Just how much is the mouse worth to biotech?

Who's Your Customer? eBiotechnology changes the rules
Karl Thiel
In the Information Age, data rules. But this is also the Digital Age, when true ownership of information is nigh on impossible. For companies struggling to make a business out of their life science data, that makes for some strange bedfellows, and a reassessment of who the customer really is.

Biotechnology In Japan: the start of an industry
Robert Triendl
Japanese biotech used to be about large companies and production technologies rather than innovative biomedical research. But now, the Japanese government has caught the biotech bug and is starting to promote the formation of new companies. Looking at Japan today, one gets a feeling of what it must have been like in the San Francisco Bay Area two decades ago.

Biogoddess: a conversation with Cynthia Robbins-Roth
Cary Groner
From research to business development and from publishing to consultancy, Dr Cynthia Robbins-Roth has witnessed the biotech industry from many perspectives during the past two and half decades. Cary Groner finds out how a scrappy kid from Pennsylvania went west to become a biotech pioneer.

Winter 1999/2000

Pharma/Biotech Alliances: just what is big pharmaceutical looking for?
Bradley Fikes
As the longtime poor but ambitious relations to big pharma, biotechnology companies spend a good deal of time pondering just what gets the attention of the Mercks and Novartises. The reasons being that a well-constructed deal with a cash-rich firm can prevent the stock dilution resulting from tapping the still-shaky public equity markets, as well as validating the biotech in the eyes of other investors.

Biotech In Scotland: clustering in the glens
Rebecca Currie
Having pioneered anaesthesia, penicillin, insulin, interferon and cloning, Scotland has always had the research base to support a substantial biotech industry. As the sector's development gathers momentum, we look at the role of the new regional government and other contributing elements driving its growth.

The GMO Backlash: public opinion is a dangerous thing
Peter Charlish
It would be an dramatic understatement to say that the European public distrusts GM foods. Already, this lack of confidence has contributed to the demise of one UK healthcare company that was developing human vaccines in GM potatoes. Not surprisingly, the healthcare industry is concerned that others might follow.

You Are Now Entering The Biotech Zone: where science meets fiction
Cary Groner
As biotech enters the new millennium, to what extent are sci-fi and reality converging? Just think of a sci-fi movie or TV show you have seen recently, or even a book you have read, and the chances are that someone somewhere is already trying to do for real something that happened in the plot. And genetic engineering is certainly getting its fair share of coverage.

Biotech Consolidation: it's not just big fish making the moves
Maria Burke
Around $20 billions worth of acquisitions were made in the biotech industry in 1999. Big Pharma has acquired some of the industry's most established names, while top-tier biotechs are snapping up their small-to-mid cap brethren, and micro-cap firms are joining forces in an attempt to simply survive. Is this a sign that the predicted shake-out has begun?

Autumn 1999

Biotech Code Of Conduct: steps in the right direction?
Maria Burke
As a result of bad behaviour by several UK biotech companies, the UK BioIndustry Association has drafted a code of conduct by which companies are strongly advised to adhere. Dr Andrew Millar, the man at the centre of the controversy at British Biotech, talks to BioPeople about whether he thinks the code goes far enough to prevent the same things happening again.

The UC BioStar Project: linking industry and academia in the Golden State
Bradley Fikes
Technology transfer from university to industry is improving all the time. At the forefront of this effort is the UC BioSTAR project, which is attempting to forge collaborations between research groups at the nine campuses of the University of California and the young and energetic biotechnology companies based nearby.

Getting Your Message Across: how well do biotechs communicate with the press?
Peter Charlish
Webster's Dictionary defines public relations as "a promotion intended to create goodwill for a person or institution." I don't know about you, but the press releases that come across my desk from biotech companies rarely, if ever, create goodwill. Irritation sometimes, frustration even. But goodwill?

The Orphans Grow Up: taking on the diseases that others won''t
Cary Groner
Diseases that otherwise might get ignores make a good test case for emerging biotech companies looking to prove a principle in a small population that will offer rapid approval. BioPeople takes a look at some of the companies and organizations hoping to advance the state of medicine for patients with such rare disorders

Biotechs Going TransAtlantic: being on two places at once
Jodi Schroll
Establishing transatlantic operations can make a lot of sense for a young biotech company. It can provide access to technology, to people and to capital; three of the main factors that contribute to a company's success. BioPeople looks at some of the companies that have embraced this idea and find out some of the benefits and pitfalls of such a strategy.

Summer 1999

Investing In Drug Delivery: a good way to deliver value?
Rebecca Currie
It can take three to five years less time and cost a tenth as much to develop, while having the potential to generate up to 50% in annual sales as new drugs. At face value, investing in drug delivery seems like a very good thing. BioPeople spoke with Hambrecht & Quist's Alex Zisson to gain the investor's perspective.

Drug Delivery: you can teach an old drug new tricks
Lisa Buttle
Drug delivery companies are becoming ever more innovative in their attempts at improving the efficiency of biotherapeutic drugs and vaccines. Here, we take a look at some of the novel technologies in development and the companies that have built their businesses around them.

David Berliner: the man who followed his nose
Bruce Goldman
With Pherin, gambler David Berliner has really gone out on a limb. But are you really sure you'd want to bet against him?

Floating Around Europe: choosing the right exchange
Maria Burke
There are now around 1,200 biotech companies in Europe. Most are privately owned and all of these have the same goal of eventually going public to raise future funds, and to provide an exit for their private investors. But with many new exchanges emerging across the continent and the current disinterest in biotech stocks, where and when do you float?

Do Not Go Gently: survival strategies for struggling biotechs
Cary Groner
Any biologist will tell you that when climates change, the local inhabitants must either move, adapt or die. It is a good analogy of the fate befalling biotech companies in the current financing environment, meaning they have some tough decisions ahead.

Spring 1999

Fishing For Finance: getting investors to take the bait
Cary Groner
A strong consensus exists in the venture capital community about what elements create a good business plan. Most investors, however, think biotech entrepreneurs have a lot to learn about them.

Sittingbourne Research Centre: biotech blooms in the Garden of England
Zosiz Chustecka
With labs at the ready and infrastructure in place, Sittingbourne Research Centre in the UK is setting itself up to be an important focus for biotech in Britain. But, if you want in, you had better hurry, because spaces are limited...

Making Biotech Drugs in The UK: countdown to production scale-up
Victoria Hook
With more and more biotech drugs either in or on the brink of entering late-stage clinical trials in the UK, just how prepared is the industry for manufacturing these products?

The Genentech Option: it's decision time for Roche
Bradley Fikes
In 1990, Roche acquired a 60% chunk of Genentech and increased it to 65% in 1994. At the end of June this year an option to purchase the remainder of Genentech reaches its deadline. What will Roche do and how will affect those involved?

The Great DNA Rush: biotechs stake their claims
Karl A. Thiel
Biotech companies have flooded the US and European patent offices with applications to protect gene sequence fragments, but those patents have been slow to issue. When they finally come, how will competitors sort out overlapping intellectual property and move the industry forward?

Guns For Hire: interim managers in biotech
Zosia Chustecka
Interim managers are biotech's hired guns. They are expected to solve a particular problem or oversee a company transition within a specified time, and then leave.

Winter 1998/99

Europe's Scary Movie Needs A Happy Ending
Cynthia Robbins-Roth
As entrepreneurs and investors alike are realizing that a European location does not provide magical protection against the challenging reality of running a biotech company, BioPeople asked PaineWebber's Stelios Papadopoulus about his predictions for the future of the European sector.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: where physics and biotech meet
Elizabeth Wellington
Owning the most powerful and expensive research equipment is something that government-funded institutions can, but the average biotech company can only dream of. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California is one such facility and, what's more, it makes its services available to biotech partners

The (Ad)ventures Of Big Pharmaceutical: strategic financing in biotech
Lisa Piercey
Large pharmaceutical companies are always trying to keep up with the pace of innovation in the search for their next blockbuster drug. A relatively new approach has seen these companies establishing their own venture financing arms and investing in biotech start-ups directly, but so far this has had limited success.

Of Banks And Biotech: it's a two-way thing
Victoria Hook
Attracting an investment bank to sell your story to investors has become more difficult as the global biotech's woes continue. But equally important is what qualities do biotech companies look for in a lead underwriter?

Creating Biodiversity: bioprospecting for the next blockbuster drug
Karl A. Thiel
The Convention on Biological Diversity may slowly help improve the practice of bioprospecting, but companies don't want to rely on natural compounds alone. New technologies are helping drug developers improve the yield of painstakingly acquired specimens.

The European Biotech Classroom: taking the initiative
Sylvia Davidson
The formation of new companies is essentially what drives growth in new sectors such as biotechnology. However, for scientists who are seldom familiar with management and finance, it is a new world. In Europe, budding entrepreneurs only have to look to the European Commission for help.

Autumn 1998

Starting Up In Europe: learning lessons from the US
David Jack
The latest estimate suggests that about 1,000 biotech companies have started up in western Europe during the past five years. Further growth is expected, but are these fledgling companies learning from the experiences of US companies? We asked Spiro Rombotis, CEO of Cyclacel Ltd.

On The Crest Of A Wave: German biotech is riding high
Carola Schropp and Jurgen Conrad
In 1998, Germany has the fastest growing biotechnology industry in the world. But only a few years ago it was a very different story. It is 20 years since the US industry started, so why has it taken so long for biotech to catch on here.

Surviving The Storm: PR strategies for inclement weather
Cary Groner
The fortunes or failures of a biotech company rest heavily on the shoulders of its PR team. It faces challenges that may take on many forms, and developing strategies to tackle them is now one of the most important tasks a company can undertake.

Israeli Biotech: rivers in the desert
Karl A Thiel
Israel's biotechnology industry has made remarkable progress during the 1990s. Pharmos' Professor Haim Aviv, one of its main architects, talks to BioPeople about how this came about and where it will lead.

The Sky Is The Limit: DARPA's fight against biowarfare
Bradley J Fikes
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has millions of dollars available for funding 'blue-sky' life sciences research to combat the growing threat of biological warfare. The commercial potential of such high-risk high-impact projects is now attracting biotech companies to the program.

Biological Networks On Wall Street: the great analyst migration
Cynthia Robbins-Roth
Mergers, changing focus and volatile stock markets are keeping biotech analysts on the move. Here, we introduce some of the players and track their migratory paths.

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