Biotechnology is the commercial application of living organisms. The main field of Biotechnology is medicine, and associated products such as vaccines. Biotechnology is used in agriculture, heavy industry and mining with products like biopesticides. Many pharmaceutical companies have a separate division that deals with biotech-based medicines. Some of these medicines are derived from living organisms, while others are chemically dependent. This distinction is important as the risk profile of the two industries differ.
In addition to the risks, a biotech company’s extensive research and development efforts can result in a high cost of operation. A successful drug could yield significant returns on investment. But it can take years before a new drug can become available on the market. The FDA approval process is complicated and long-winded, requiring preclinical testing, clinical trials and quality monitoring. According to Science Daily only a small percent of the compounds tested get approved for market.
Biotech companies have the option to focus their efforts on technology partnerships or to develop their own pharmaceutical assets that they license to large pharma to manufacture and market. Most biotech startups opt for the former approach because it will boost revenue growth. It is not without the risk, however, since they also have to cover the costs of developing clinical products and approval by regulators and insurance reimbursement negotiation and sales promotion. To minimize these risks many biotechs have strategic alliances with large pharmaceutical and smaller biotechnology platform companies. The biotech ecosystem in Massachusetts, for example comprises top teaching hospitals, universities, entrepreneur communities and venture capitalists.
www.genotec-frankfurt.de/biotechnological-synthesis-of-remedies/
