Steven Burrill Predicts Biotech's Future in his 24th Annual Report

G. Steven Burrill released his 24th annual report on the state of the biotech industry at the BIO International Convention held in Chicago this month. Biotech 2010—Life Sciences: Adapting for Success provides insight into biotech' s changing environment and how the industry will need to adapt to it.

“Only those companies that are the most responsive to the changes around them will thrive and be successful,” says Burrill in the introduction chapter of the report. According to him, some of the key changes and challenges that will have an impact on the industry include mergers and acquisitions, healthcare reform, biosimilars, regulatory environment, and increased government involvement.

In his report, Burrill predicts that the worldwide financing environment in 2010 will be more robust than in 2009; biotech consolidation will continue; Big Pharma and Big Biotech will compete for companies with advanced product pipelines; the companies will build their business models around technologies that are driving personalized medicine; and technologies such as biotechnology, engineering, computing, telecommunications, and social media will converge and lead to enormous changes in the way healthcare is delivered in the years to come.

Burrill also says that globalization will continue to be a major trend as companies look beyond their borders to maximize the value of their business and access sources of capital that may be available locally. Global emerging markets, particularly, China, India, and Brazil will grow faster than the US and Europe.

In addition, Biotech 2010 presents 2009 industry financials, partnering activity of life sciences companies operating in the US, Europe, Canada, and Asia, and a comprehensive analysis on key developments in healthcare, personalized medicine, biogreentech, emerging technologies, policy, and globalization.