The Norwegian government has unveiled a rescue package for the biotech industry as part of a national financial rescue plan. The stimulus package worth NOK20 ($2.87) billion contains explicit measures worth about $400 million to support the biotech industry and prevent companies from going bankrupt. The government's move came in response to a proposition made by the Oslo Cancer Cluster, an industry and research cluster representing 25 Norwegian groups. Over half of the group's member companies, which together have more than 50 oncology products in the pipeline, were in danger of running out of cash in the next 12–18 months. In other countries where similar requests have been made, the response has been slow (Nat. Biotechnol. 27, 1, 2009). “The Norwegian government understood that they had to react quickly,” said Jónas Einarson, chairman of the Oslo Cancer Cluster. Key measures in the package include a tripling of the funds allocated to innovations loans for biotech and information technology, an additional $279 million for the government-owned fund Argentum to invest in private venture capital funds focusing on life sciences, and extra tax breaks for individual small-to-medium enterprises. “Norway has a small but growing industry with a very strong pipeline, mostly in the oncology sector,” says Einarson. “The Norwegian government wants to make sure that this fragile industry survives the ongoing financial crises.”