Beer is Biotech Part 3
Where in the world are the hottest regions for biotech?
An excellent question. Presently, America reigns supreme in both pharmaceutical and biotechnology. California and Massachusetts are the perennial dominants, followed (in no particular order, since they vie for third place and below) by Texas, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Michigan and Florida. In the US, different regions and states are providing enticing initiatives to budding biotechnology firms and entrepreneurs to locate within their borders.
But that’s the present and the past. Given the long product development times for biotechnology products, especially pharmaceuticals, an equally important question is “globally, where will the hot biotech growth areas be over the next decade or two?”
After lagging behind America in biotechnology for decades, Europe is getting its act together. This is attributable in part to the growing specter of the EU. Ironically, Switzerland, not a formal EU member, has become a major epicenter for biotechnology R&D and investment. This is due to several factors, including a favorable investment environment and intellectual property laws, a stable and valuable currency, and a highly educated workforce. Switzerland appears to have gotten its cake and eaten it too. Although not a formal member of the EU, it retains a close association with the Research Framework Programme of the European Union, thereby enjoying the benefits of EU membership, but retaining its independence. In addition to Switzerland, several regions of Germany have begun their own economic initiatives aimed at luring biotechnology companies. In addition, Sweden, France and Norway also loom as major players in biotech presently and for the foreseeable future. Not surprisingly, each of these countries has several large or intermediate size pharmaceutical companies.
Two additional global regions that I predict will become major powers in biotechnology over the next 10 to 15 years are China and India. India already has emerged as an important manufacturer of generic drugs and is quickly developing its own proprietary pharmaceutical industry.