Courtesy of Jupiter Images
European biotech companies are more likely than their American counterparts to fail at the 3- to 5-year stage, according to a UK-based think tank. Part of the problem is that the European Union's financing institution is putting money into biotech startups without making sure they can attract international backing when the seed money runs out.
"They're not thriving because after the first honeymoon period, when they are able to attract seed capital from various sources, they don't grow fast enough," says John Hodgson, a director of Critical I, which is based in Cambridge and Oxford, England. "So by the time they're 3 to 5 years old, they're no longer attractive to the international investment community, and it's at that point where you see a huge shift in investment to the US."
At the end of 2003, Europe had 1,976 biotechnology companies and 132 startups, compared with ...
