Biotech Roundup: Friday, April 3rd

Lots of interesting news this week. Where, oh where to begin…

PATENT BILL COMPROMISE – Many in the biotech community have been waiting with bated breath to see how the patent reform debate will play out in Congress. And yesterday was definitely a step in the right direction. The version of the Patent Reform Act, (S.515) that was approved by the Judiciary Committee was praised by BIO CEO Jim Greenwood as “a more consensus-minded approach”:

We greatly appreciate the tireless efforts of Senators Leahy, Feinstein and Specter to craft careful compromises on several key issues, including damages and post-grant review. While no compromise is ever perfect, we believe the Committee’s product breaks the logjam on the major issues that have held up patent reform for the past several Congresses and will clear the path for a bill to be completed without undue delay.

“The biotechnology industry has developed and commercialized more than 300 drugs and diagnostics that are helping more than 325 million people worldwide and another 400 or so products are in the pipeline. The industry also is leading the way in developing advanced biofuels and other technologies that will help reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels. All of this innovation is based in the strength and predictability provided by our nation’s patent system. Meaningful reform will continue to promote these breakthrough innovations and help drive economic growth at a time when it is greatly needed.

GOOGLE AND BIOTECH – There was a big buzz in the biotech community this week when Google announced its venture capital fund. Why? One of the managing partners is Bill Maris, who has a background in biotechnology and healthcare,. Maris, based at Google’s corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California said Google is open to funding biotechnology start-ups. “If we find an interesting therapeutics company, we’d be happy to put down a term sheet,” Maris said. Read it in the Boston Globe.

BIOTECH IS EVERYWHERE – You may know it. May not. But if you’ve ever wondered about the ubiquity of biotechnology in everyday life, check out the latest post by Theresa Phillips at About.com. The post has a list of some of products of enzyme biotechnology you might use everyday in your own home.

OPPOSING BIOTECH, STARVING AFRICA – We caught another review of the Robert Paarlberg book, Starved for Science: How Biotechnology is being kept out of Africa. The review said there’s no disputing of the premise — that opposition to GMOs is a luxury for Europe and a death sentence for many in Africa … but argues the book could go further.

Although he details the possibilities of a drought-resistant seed, Paarlberg does not delve deeply into the successes of GM seeds in countries where they are currently being used, such as South Africa. With freedom to make their own decisions South African farmers are growing more food for themselves and their families and have enough extra to sell to others. Beyond increasing the local supply of food, having extra crops allows the farmers to increase the sizes of their farms, create jobs, start other businesses, and save money for the future.

The other incomplete aspect of Starved for Science deals with the incentives Africans face when debating growing GM crops. Even when they have the choice of using GM seeds they have to decide if it’s worth doing so, since European markets usually ban GM goods. The book would have been improved if Paarlberg had investigated the tradeoffs here more thoroughly.

Allowing free rein for biotechnology would be an important step toward eliminating the hunger that plagues Africa. The sad truth is that politics is apt to continue obstructing that and other avenues of progress.

PARTNERING AND BIOTECH – Check out Silco’s post on the recent Burrill & Co. report on biotechnology funding and the rise of partnerships.

Figures released by Burrill & Company highlight the growing importance of alliances to the fortunes of biotechnology companies and to survival of the sector in general. According to Burrill, financing and partnering deals collectively brought in $30 billion for small- to medium-sized US biotechnology companies in 2008, with $10 billion in financing and $20 billion in partnering.

BIOTECH AND BIOFUELS – Finally, put this one on your bloglist. WRDFOWRD. Good reporting on the business of alternative energy. Today’s report comments on Frost & Sullivan analyst Phani Rajkumar Chinthapalli’s conclusion that the success of biofuels is dependent on national sustainability policies.

That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend!