PARTNERING STILL A STAPLE FOR BIOTECHS
Although there is still some residual investor nervousness about the strength of the economic recovery, there is no doubt
that the markets are back on track and the biotech industry will certainly benefit from this in 2010. Biotech companies also
are benefiting from Big Pharma's willingness to pay for innovation. Partnering revenues have been a staple for many biotech
companies throughout the year and, as a result, we are likely to see a record amount raised by US biotechs by the close of
the year.
Table 2. Selected partnering deals in 2009
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Notable partnering deals in the past few months have included several that could be potentially worth over $1 billion (Table
2).
WHAT LIES AHEAD?
Healthcare reform will pass and this will have a mixed impact on the biotech industry. The proposed reform is in favor of
allowing 12 years of data exclusivity for biotech drugs, and that is good for our industry. With 25–50 million Americans added
to the healthcare system, revenues for the healthcare industry should increase, which is also a positive. However, there continues
to be some investor uncertainty over the healthcare reform debate and this is likely to continue as the legislators wade through
the proposals. The drug industry certainly will take a big hit in the House bill. For elderly people who are eligible for
both Medicare and Medicaid, the bill mandates rebates from the drug makers so that the Medicare system ends up paying less.
Those rebates are estimated to cost the industry $60 billion over a decade.
G. Steven Burrill is chief executive officer at Burrill & Company, San Francisco, CA, 415.591.5400, publications@b-c.com
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