Related to Overview of the Number Three and Four Biotech Clusters in the U.S.

• Reporting from J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference
  Drug companies developing companion diagnostics is just one of the trends highlighted at the meeting.
  
• Biotech Financing Overview and Trends from Last Year’s Fourth Quarter
  Biotechs are lining up to go public after a long wait.
  
• Medical Uses for Marijuana No Longer in the Weeds
  New crop of companies are adding to the political debate and also providing clinical evidence.
  
• Court’s Halt of Federally Backed ESC Research May Impact Economic Growth
  If the injunction sticks, U.S. firms will likely send ESC research jobs abroad.
  
• Marketing Innovations for Biotechs to Increase Revenues
  Looking outside the industry can bring breakthroughs.
  
• Opinion: Watson, Come Here … You're Needed at the PTO
  Without a transformation of the information technology supporting patent examiners, patent reform would be like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
  
• Patent Reform Likely to Benefit Industry Giants More Than Start-Ups
  Points of concern in the America Invents Act include provisions for first-to-file and inequitable conduct.
  
• Legal Challenges to Healthcare Reform Threaten Biopharmaceutical Legislation
  Initiatives detailed in the Act, like those to boost personalized medicine and comparative effectiveness research, could be lost.
  
• Translational Research Is the NCATS’ Meow for Growing NIH’s R&D Role
  Budget will determine new institute’s ability to fill gaps in early drug development and de-risk projects.
  
• House Takes Different Stance from Senate on Two Key Factors in Patent Reform
  While in number the amendments are small, their influence could be significant.
  
• Supreme Court’s Decision in Matrixx v. Siracusano Calls for More Disclosure of Adverse Events to Investors
  Side effects that are not statistically significant must also be divulged.
  
• More VC But Fewer Deals Signal That Investors Are Becoming Even More Risk Averse
  While the love affair may be ending, venture capitalists are still opening up their wallets to later-stage companies.
  
• Academic Organizations Try to Step Up Their R&D Game
  Sector has work cut out for it as ARRA has dried up and gov’t as well as industry cut budgets.
  
• Do Presidential Bioethics Committees Shape Science Policy?
  Panels help frame the debate, but topics are sometimes chosen more because of political pressure than scientific need.
  
• Big Apple Views Applied Sciences Campus as a Plum for Technology Commercialization
  Aim is to convert plethora of research activities into marketable opportunities.
  
• What Does It Take to Swing the IPO Window Open for Biotechs?
  Suggestions include selling at a discount at a time when there is a rising investor fan-base for social media.
  
• Biopharma Venture Funds Are Stepping Up Where VC Firms Are Stepping Out
  Such deals bring corporate giants some control in technology developers, who in turn gain the possibility of an exit through M&A.
  
• Science Agencies Feeling the Pain of Budget Cuts as Lawmakers Craft FY 2012 Budget
  NSF’s research budget bears much of the spending reduction agreed upon by the Senate panel.
  
• FDA’s Appeal for Budget Hike Will Have to Succumb to Budget Reality
  The Senate was kinder than the House, but both went well below what the agency appealed for.
  
• Chilly Budget Climate All but Freezes Proposed FY ’12 Spending for NIH and CDC
  Senate approved a 0.6% decrease in NIH’s budget and a 1% drop in CDC’s compared to fiscal 2011 levels.