Bring back medicine

As the winter of discontent has drifted into a silent spring, the discouraging signs are very clear: The pipeline shortage, particularly at big pharma; the failed clinical milestones; the shortfall in the regulatory queue; and the huge haircut in valuations for both biotech and pharma, to name a few.

In 1998, BioCentury created some controversy with its annual "Buyside View" review of investor sentiment. Entitled "Bring Back Products," the review highlighted arguments by portfolio managers that the toolkit/discovery services model was doomed as a sustainable business proposition, based primarily on simple economic realities (see BioCentury, Jan. 12, 1998)...