Avid Bioservices Inc (CDMO)

[entdoc]

Volgoat, I liked the article linked in your post:
http://biotech.about.com/od/Drug-Development/a/Recent-Advances-In-Cancer-Research-Gives-Us-Some-Hope.htm
and wanted to know more about the author. According to the byline on this article in Science and Enterprise, "Zack Fisher helps people understand and leverage biotechnology and its impact on society. He is a freelance writer and is currently a research fellow in biomedical sciences at the West Virginia University School of Medicine. "Here's another article by Zack:
"Science for business people. Enterprise for scientists.
CommentsPosts. Guest Post: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly Of Biotech Partnerships
Collaborations between biotechnology companies and pharmaceutical companies are a long standing tradition and are traditionally the way things work. There are several known benefits of these partnerships such as increased funding, validation of technology, and the ability to combine resources and infrastructure. Recently, a new approach to biotechnology funding has arisen that doesn’t require traditional partnerships. An increasing amount of biotech companies are seeking to raise their own capital in order to hold on to more of the profits instead of reaping the benefits that come along with pharmaceutical companies in exchange for a cut of the profits. Financial POV One of the biggest issues that gets discussed in the decision to partner up or to just seek investors is the impact either choice will have financially. Partnering has clear benefits initially. Biotech companies have the ability to tap into the rather large pool of financial resources available from pharmaceutical companies. These resources also include their infrastructure and manufacturing expertise.
In the argument against partnerships, companies are beginning to think more long term. The immediate rewards sometimes don’t outweigh the financial risks involved for the biotech company. In the past few years, we have seen companies such as Pfizer and Roche terminate licensing agreements for various reasons, which has lead their partners’ stocks to decrease in value.
One size does not fit all
There is no perfect solution or one size fits all answer to the partnership debate. Ultimately what it comes down to is whether or not a biotech company feels that they have more to gain from a potential partnership with a pharmaceutical company than they could potentially lose. There have been companies such as Celgene Corporation and Amgen Inc. that have more than proven that it’s possible for a biotech company to achieve success without partnering with a pharmaceutical company.
However, unless there is already a solid pipeline in place, going in alone can be difficult. Calgene was able to achieve success due to the success of Thalomid. That allowed them build their infrastructure for Revlimid. We may begin to see an increase in the amount of companies that follow in their footsteps. The concept of biotech companies forming their own network and essentially doing everything pharmaceutical companies do in partnerships such as setting up manufacturing could be the new wave.
Biotech partnerships will be one of many topics discussed at the Biotech Conference in Israel happening in June. It will be an excellent opportunity to learn about the exhibiting companies that will be networking and sharing information.
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