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Biotech '83, billed as the first world conference and exhibition on the commercial applications and implications of biotechnology, took place in London from May 4 through 6. Here are three reports from the conference.
Biogen, perhaps the most international and certainly one of the most successful of the biotech specialist firms, is trying to graduate from a research corporation into a pharmaceutical manufacturer and marketer. Its recent public offering was designed to propel the company into this new stage by expanding its clinical testing program and building production facilities. With only one small-volume product on the market, and facing fierce competition from both the established pharmaceutical multinationals and the research-oriented gene splicing companies, Biogen struggles to position itself for the future.
