2010 Biotech Highlights

The beginning of the year is a great time to look back and to look ahead. This week, I’ll look back at the top stories of 2010:

1. Canada’s 2010 Federal Budget had some juicy bits for biotech, venture capital and innovation, including the elimination of Section 116, which was long held up as an example of an unnecessary barrier to foreign investment.
2. The top three reasons why biotech companies should use social media — their customers, investors and peers all do.
3. Personalized medicine continues to attract tons of attention, not least because people expect it to be a huge market; but there are significant challenges to widespread adoption of the technology.
4. UNC’s new “Express License” is a great example of a technology transfer office that is transforming its mandate to focus on more startups instead of higher royalties; and this post explains why that strategy makes perfect sense.
5. This post examining the FDA’s 2009 approval statistics also has staying power – as this year’s numbers are released and discussed, the analysis continues to be relevant.

Next week, I’ll look ahead to 2011 to highlight industry trends that will be featured on The Cross-Border Biotech Blog and @crossborderbio on Twitter.