Biotech’s 2006 was a
year "with interesting side bars but no
blockbuster stories," G. Steven Burrill, CEO of
Burrill & Company said in a statement. "But
stay tuned — 2007 is shaping up to be one of biotech’s
best if some of the products now near the regulatory
goal line get approved." The Burrill Biotech
Select Index closed 2006 down 14%. With Genentech and
Amgen down 12% and 11% year-to-date, mid- and
small-cap companies carried the load. With its stock
value up 186% since January, Illumina was the luminary
of the mid-caps.
According to Burrill,
companies specializing in areas needed for
personalized medicine have received positive investor
attention. "Sequenom... a provider of fine
mapping genotyping, methylation and gene expression
analysis solutions, has seen its share price rocket
600% since January."
For 2007, Burrill
predicts a 50% increase in the number of biotech IPOs,
which raised approximately the same amount ($800
million) in 2005 and 2006. Burrill anticipates the
industry’s market cap will reach an all-time high of
$575 billion (a 15% year-over-year increase).
Consolidation will
continue to be red hot as both big pharma and big
biotech compete for companies with advanced product
pipelines and innovative technology. Partnering
activity will keep pace ($15 billion in partnering
capital was raised in the United States in 2006), and
a significant portion will be directed at gaining
access to earlier-stage technology.
Overall, biotechnology
in 2007 will continue to fuel a major transformation
in healthcare, with new products targeting the
"individualization" of medicine in the
marketplace.
|
