FLICKR, YOMANIMUS
Earlier this month, financial advisor Mark Kessel wrote an opinion for The Scientist suggesting that “pharmaceutical companies should deploy cash to fund struggling biotech companies, which could generate much needed new drugs.” It seems pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson agree. The two companies announced today (March 21) that they have contributed $50 million each, which, along with $100 million from venture-capital firm Index Ventures, will go towards funding early-stage biotechnology companies.
In the last few years, the biotech industry has faced increasing difficulties getting funded by venture capitalists who have turned to “more mature businesses or less risky industries,” Reuters reported. Other investors have similarly turned away from early-stage biotech, as evidenced by the relatively few numbers of biotech IPOs. But the new ...
