Testing the offshore waters Biotech firms experiment with moving work overseas
|
|
In late 2002, a conclave in Menlo Park brought together biotech executives and state representatives to discuss a growing concern: How can the Bay Area — the world’s premier biotech center — defend itself against other states and countries trying a grab a share of the industry’s growth? Fast forward to 2004, and some Bay Area companies think the very threat they were guarding against — countries like China and India that have emerging biotech clusters — might now be one of the keys to their survival. Sending portions of their work to these lower-cost overseas tech centers holds much appeal for some biotech firms facing steep expenses for drug development. A company could spend as much as $800 million on research that yields just one FDA-approved drug. And drugmakers expect fewer new products to attain blockbuster sales that could make that investment pay off. Biotechnology itself may narrow the market for some drugs because gene-based tests could predict which patients will benefit and which will not. More : sfgate.com |