The pharmaceutical industry’s business model has been in a crisis since the early 2000’s. With huge investments in research and development and very little output, companies have been forced to rethink their strategy. The industrials have looked at externalizing their research to university research centers, to reduce costs and access their academic expertise. They helped create collaborative teams with both academic and industrial researchers, to take fundamental innovations and turn them into drugs and treatments. But this translational research isn’t just a demand from the industry, it’s a dynamic that also comes from both federal government initiatives and change in the academic perspective. Continue reading
Translational research – the renewal of pharmaceutical research
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While Facebook, Airbnb, Zipcar, Tumblr, Instagram and many others are shining light over US entrepreneurship ecosystems, only a few concrete studies actually dig deep enough into the various characteristics of the whole country to measure how it compares to other places in the world, economically-wise. Of course the Silicon Valley, the Triangle Research Park or Boston are fantastic places to create and grow your business, but what about the US ? Beyond great companies, how do the United States measure to other countries in term of business friendliness ? Is it still the perfect place to start a company ? 
It’s a fact that nobody can deny: the SIlicon Valley is the most dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem in the world. Yearly studies keep confirming it, and it is increasing its overall domination: last year the Valley attracted about 40% of private investments in startups (about $20 B). Other states leaders and foreign governments keep scrutinizing this area, hoping to replicate its secret formula and host the next Facebook. Unfortunately, the secret is well kept and no one succeeded in this enterprise until now. 
Dear readers, we present to you a series of three articles focused on Technology Transfer in the U.S, manly in universities. The articles are based on the interview of the former Association of Universities Tech transfer Managers (AUTM) president, Prof. Ashley Stevens of Boston University, who gave us great insights on TT. 
“The Global Innovation Index” is just out, and its results concerning the United States are very positive: despite some flaws in the American policies, the U.S. stay very competitive in terms of innovation. Only in two of the seven innovation-spurring areas are the U.S. slower than western European countries and Asian major economic cities. And even there they are still ranking better than a lot of the fifty-five countries studied in this report. 
The health care reform in the United States has been one of the main projects of the U.S government in recent years and is beginning to bear fruits. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed on March, 23rd 2010, defines the legislative framework for the development of biologic drugs. However, some major questions remained unanswered, and health care related industries were impatient to have more formal guidelines. Finally, the FDA issued three guidance documents on February, 9th 2012, to assist industry players in developing biosimilars in the United States.
The “valley of death” is ” the “dragon” of most entrepreneurs, a phase one dreads the most. It is the period during which an early stage company is developing its technology (or a proof of concept), its market, its offer and strategy, burning the few dollars it has in the bank at a high rate while not fueling the tank at the same time. At that time, the company is at its most vulnerable state financially, and in order to survive has to attract enough customers or investors to help it “cross” this valley of death.
The part 1 paper addresses the issue of US manufacturing and innovation. After Obama’s Advance Manufacturing Program initiative last year the author notes that little impact in both the US manufacturing industry and the literature has been observed. The AMP looks presently outdated by the recent figure regarding the manufacturing world share : China is turning the leading country with 19,8% and has overtaken the U.S. with 19,4%. The article explores two ambivalent trends underlying the globalization in manufacturing : (1) the propensity of US firms to outsource manufacturing in China, making the business of US firms very profitable (cf. Apple) and the customer satisfaction higher, making the US trade deficit with China acceptable, and (2) the propensity to transfer innovation capability to China when manufacturing is located there, preventing the US manufacturing firms to do so. (to be continued)
The first spot is undoubtedly occupied by California, and 2011 statistics confirm the domination more than ever.
Science & Innovation Insiders 