Recession and biotechnology

The Recession Proof BioTechnology Sector- This is what is addressed to the Biotech sector since recession couldn’t hit much when it comes to health care, just the way education sector remains the least affected. It is suggested that one sector investors should take an interest in during these difficult times in the economy are biotechs. Some biotechnology stocks should do extremely well, since along with food & consumer staples, health care is a necessity for our well-being and remains safe in the stock market. President Obama's health care reform should bring much needed funding to advance personalized medicine and new technologies, both in developing new treatments, and new diagnostic tools and while most industries are battening down the hatches to see out the financial storms, biotechnology is thriving since the sector is well-placed to ride out the storm as biotech is a massive field comprising environment biotechnology to bio-fuels, from vaccines to genetically modified plants. Its future looks even more secure as the world turns to its research expertise for help in surviving and combating bioterrorism.
Post-11 September, priorities have changed and this proves as a blessing for the Biotech sector. A anti-terrorism bill going through Congress contains $3bn for research funding, dedicating $519M to vaccines alone. This bill should become law by early next year, giving way to hopes for the Biotech companies to over come the blow of recession.
Tracing the figures, By 2001, employment had grown to 174,000 in Biotech Sector. Total revenues generated in this sector grew from $8 billion to $25 billion during that timeframe. Research-and-development expenditures increased from $5 billion to $14 billion. And while the industry as a whole is still losing money because of ongoing research, that loss now represents a much smaller portion of total revenues!
The biotechnology industry of India seems undaunted by the global meltdown and is confident of maintaining a growing curve, irrespective of the economical conditions. Experts feel that the industry, which currently holds only two percent shares of the global market, has the potential to grow and emerge as global player in coming years. Experts expect the industry to cross the five billion dollar mark by 2010, through its products and services while Indians have always had a remarkable position when it came to R&D. Many of the companies have been around for 5-10 years and haven’t been profitable since their inception. As commented by an eminent CEO “You don’t really have a business unless you have a product to sell and are profitable.” I suspect that many of these so-called biotechnology “companies” will go out of business—and their stock prices.not because of the recession—but because they were unable to develop financially-viable products or services.”While lay offs and cost-cutting measures are unavoidable by the many juvenile Biotech companies , it is strictly not implying that it is due to recession only as many companies use this opportunity to remove the extra employees and the unproductive ones, while the small companies that were on shaky ground before the recession even began. Some of the companies that were mentioned included: Titan Pharmaceuticals, Pressure BioSciences, Insite Vision, WuXi PharmaTech Cayman and Targeted Genetics—not exactly titans (pardon the wordplay) of the biotechnology industry. Biotechs with less than six months of cash on hand and few clinical programs will be hit the hardest. But while times may be tough now, this period of struggle could good for the industry's future. Biotechs that don't have much to offer won't survive the economic crisis, but stronger, better companies ripe for investment will emerge in the end. The same rule applies here. The companies having liquid cash will survive and make the most out of recession and Biotech companies having a great source of fund from the Government and pharma companies having large cash in hand, doesn’t seem to be getting affected comparatively.
There has been a considerable lay off and we could notice in the newspapers reading Pfizer cutting on 800 jobs in a month, , Pressure BioSciences is closing a research facility in Rockville and laying off 40 percent of its work force. Titan Pharmaceuticals says it is cutting its workforce by 40 percent as it focuses on "reducing all current clinical and manufacturing development activities to the minimal level necessary to continue its efforts to realize the potential value of its assets” Targeted Genetics has cut its payroll by 25 percent and "realigned its product development priorities to focus on its ocular and neurological product candidates and its first use of expressed RNAi. WuXi PharmaTech Cayman plans to discontinue its U.S. biologics manufacturing operations and lay off about 100 workers at its Philadelphia facility. While many Biotech Companies enjoy unaffected by the recession many others are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Other biotechs are cutting staff and non-essential drug development programs to preserve cash. This means that essential early-stage research--the type of research needed to find the next big breakthrough--isn't getting done. " so we expect a bit of slowdown in terms of Research in few companies.
However as consumers' attitudes toward biotechnology products improve, with the growth of awareness, the industry is reaping long-awaited rewards, expecting to grow by 12.9 percent this year. There is improved demand for medical and pharmaceutical products to cope with an ageing, and ailing along with the technological advancement.

Rising demand for biofuels is good news for the biotechnology sector, with the Department of Energy estimating ethanol usage could reduce U.S. petroleum-derived fuel consumption by up to 30 percent by 2030. The biotechnology sector has allowed the U.S. farming industry to rapidly increase its supply of corn and soybeans the main inputs into biofuels by developing genetically-modified seeds which are resistant to pests and drought. And by boosting farm productivity, biotechnology plans a crucial role in ensuring that biofuel production targets are met. Similarly, the need for genetically modified plants is also paid attention to with nutrition being a major concern these days and these investments can help the nations save on the other expenses.
It is expected that the biotech industry may struggle a bit over the next couple of years but it will survive because it is in much better financial shape than most other American industries and in India, even if the the export rate might be reduced by a minimal percentage, the demand for drugs cannot be suppressed even if recession might have hit every individual. We hope this sector to grow at a much faster pace, especially in our nation where Biotech is still far behind compared to the other nations!
ects
With a tremendous zeal for Science and to own an Industry based on it, I chose the combination of Biology and technology- Biotechnology that paved a path for me to grab my ultimate dream.
The world of Biotechnology is massive and seems endless and can handle any sort of a problem starting from bioleaching (use of bacteria to clean the oil spills) to developing nutritious crops. Ranging from combating diseases to pollution this sector can answer all the problems and the intensive research work prior to that is a major interest for me. I look forward to take up my Masters in an industrial Biotechnology sector to learn both the science and how the corporate world functions. Then I intend to per sue my research in the sector of pharmaceuticals or food science and foster an innovative product by genetically modifying few organisms and present a consumer friendly commodity that can be affordable for the common mass for a better living aiming to be a blessing especially to the ignored ones.
Every year thousands of discoveries occur but only a few are patented and out of which only a very minimal percentage of industries have been successful in furnishing their own purpose and stand firmly. This fact had disturbed me as then there was no use of spending the enormous amount of money, time and efforts if it is not a favorable outcome. The first required quality is Leadership to head the responsibilities and take the initiative with a constant effort of being updated with the trends and technology and always being open to ideas and creativity. I would look forward to work on these and set up an Enterprise manufacturing the aftermath of my research work. My goal is to start a revolution and device products that have lesser of side effects and I have a long way to go in discovering such an effect, but dedication and focus answers it all. The other aspect would be spreading awareness amongst people since even in this world of technology, more than 80% people are ignorant about the diseases and their precautions. I would like to initiate a trend in spreading awareness amongst the mass