Global Biotech industry resilience despite challenging conditions, but gap between 'haves' and 'have nots' grows

The global biotechnology industry was able to weather the continued worldwide economic turmoil and deliver a strong financial performance in 2009, with the world's established biotech centers reaching profitability for the first time in history. However, the gap between the "haves" and "have nots" in the industry continued to widen in 2009, posing new challenges for emerging companies in accessing the capital needed for R&D, according to findings released by Ernst & Young in its Beyond borders: global biotechnology report 2010.

"Biotech companies have long confounded predictions on their ability to survive difficult economic conditions and 2009 was no different," said Glen Giovannetti, Ernst & Young's global biotechnology leader, noting: "Companies will continue to face a challenging funding environment for the foreseeable future. The firms best poised for success are those that can seize the opportunities latent in the near-universal need for increased efficiency - from capital efficiency to new approaches to R&D and creative models for funding and partnering."

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