Features in 2002

Integration of variegated pharmaceutical data sets is a highly desirable goal, but attaining it requires more than placing all the data on the same server.

Various valuation formulae do not explain the valuation of many licensing deals, indicating that persuasive negotiators play an influential role.

Diabetes is a modern-day epidemic in the making, but drug developers are still undecided over the best strategy for its treatment.

The combination of a strong science base, and encouraging and supportive private and public sectors, has recently warmed Australia's biotech sector back to life.

As biomanufacturing capacity becomes strained, several new methods for producing biologics are being investigated by biotechnology companies.

As the cost of clinical development rises, and products take longer to reach the market, the biotechnology industry may be wise to take a closer look at orphan drug indications.

Therapeutic cancer vaccines offer hope for patients for whom traditional treatments have failed, but various obstacles may impede the launch of these new agents.

Nature Biotechnology's annual survey of public biotechnology companies reveals that it was “business as usual” for the biotechnology sector, despite the year's economic downturn.

Although the new Øresund bridge physically links southern Sweden and Denmark, it will take some time to establish good working relations between their biotechnology clusters.

Committed investment in research infrastructure has laid the foundations for a vibrant biotechnology community in Finland.

Commercial biotechnology in Germany has taken off during the past decade, but creating a viable sector may require a change in strategy in the future.

Living cells provide the starting material for a cornucopia of new strategies for the treatment of disease, despite several outstanding bureaucratic and technical obstacles.

Proteins, not genes, are the true targets of medicines, but their analysis by array technology still poses significant challenges for drug developers.

It took a leap of faith for researchers to believe that antisense technology might lead to novel medicines, but that commitment could soon pay off.

As bioterrorism becomes a reality, US federal agencies are turning to biotechnology for new means of detection and safer therapeutics. But does the industry have all the answers?