1. Financial Advisory
2. Industries
3. Healthcare
4. Biotechnology

What is Biotechnology Industry?

Biotechnology is a term that refers to higher risk ventures within the pharmaceutical industry that are putting all of their money into development of cutting edge drugs. When it emerged as a popular investment in the early 1990s, biotech seemed ideal: the protection of a healthcare company with the growgh potential of a technology stock. And for the biggest that lasted for a while. Amgen, once the largest biotech and one of the biggest listed companies, emerged begind just one mega drug but it was all profit and they were able to keep the patent for a decade. No other company had that length of time without competition because generic drug makers started to introduce their low cost versions of every drug. As courts approved their use (to help HMOs and hospitals) each successive company made less money on their successful drugs and still paid the price for unsuccessful ventures. This has made the industry much spottier from an investment standpoint, especially when Genentic, who seemed in their history to never fail, were re-repurchased by Roche in 2009.