This year's meeting of the US Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) held in Washington, DC, at the end of June was the largest biotechnology industry gabfest ever. According to BIO, 16,234 registrants and 1,268 exhibits crammed into 2.3 million square feet of space (roughly six city blocks). Attendees included no less than one president of the United States, nine US state governors and 29 formal international delegations from around the world, all participating in an ulcer-popping profusion of free lunches and hospitality receptions.

But BIO's most shocking statistic is that biotechnology is no longer an upstart industry: in 2002, it employed 194,600 people in the US—more than the toy and sporting goods industries. The question is, does biotech continue to be more entrepreneurial than industries where racket heads with more ping and dolls that precisely mimic human bodily functions are the pinnacles of innovation?

Back in 1993, when 1,400 attended the inaugural meeting in Research Triangle, NC, BIO was a networking opportunity; a chance for those from the US industry's 1,272 companies to share triumphs and tragedies and do new business together. But in 2003, even though more than twice as many people are employed in US biotech, there are only 200 more companies—a surprisingly low number considering the hundreds of billions of dollars ploughed in over the past decade.

Biotechnology is now a mature sector with large companies offering steady employment not only to scientists and entrepreneurs, but also clinical trial coordinators, regulatory professionals, reimbursement specialists, marketing/sales personnel, accounting/tax experts, consultants, PR agents and lawyers (to name a few). But despite the overabundance of regional development agencies and delegations at BIO, the industry that launched a thousand companies is unlikely to be launching a thousand more anytime soon. Today, venture capital not only is much more stringent and selective about the types of startups it will finance, but also has many lucrative opportunities in the growing number of late-stage companies.