India, China continue to snap up deals

India and China continued to attract attention and deals in the biotechnology field, motivated by the desire to increase access to large and growing drug markets and by the need to lower costs of drug development.

According to "The Global Biotechnology Report 2006" brought out by Ernst & Young, a number of deals in vaccines were energised by concerns around the avian flu, SARS, and biodefence products, while looming patent expiry led to more deals in the generics segment.

Released at a special session of the BIO Annual Convention 2006 in Chicago on Tuesday, the report said in 2005 the Asia-Pacific region had become the first to reach aggregate profitability in biotechnology.

The biotech sector's growth in this region outpaces its performance in other parts of the world, with a 46 per cent increase in revenues.

Many Asian governments see biotech as a natural fit and the next big thing because it is a technology-based industry with tremendous growth potential in the decades ahead. Asian biotech executives and policymakers are focusing on strategic niches in their efforts to remain competitive.

Deals were a key driver in the Asia-Pacific region where companies formed partnerships to position themselves in an environment characterised by brisk growth, increasing competition and sweeping regulatory changes.