In its sixth annual study, BDO USA, LLP reported this week that average R&D spending across all mid-market biotech companies increased about 18 percent from 2015 to 2016, from an average of $65.9 million to an average of $80.6 million. BDO notes the healthy growth is being fueled by increased investment in biotech R&D.
The increase in R&D spending is one reason for the latest surge of innovation across all areas of the biotech industry, including huge advances in the biological sciences and pharmaceuticals. This has led to more effective drugs, treatments, and diagnostic tests aimed at enhancing the quality of life.
One area of the biotech industry that is seeing great strides is in the advancements made in drug products targeted at oncology and gene therapy to prevent and treat chronic illnesses, especially warranted because of our increasingly aging population. We can already see the results.
Already this year, the FDA has approved 28 novel drugs, compared to 22 in all of 2016, with the latest one, Mavyret, a drug to treat adults with chronic hepatitis C virus being approved on August 3.
Biotech Innovation Marketplace
IndieBio, a startup accelerator, in collaboration with Scientist.com, a site where companies can access outsourced research services created the innovation marketplace as a resource designed to accelerate the R&D process for young biotech companies.
Under IndieBio’s unique platform, twice a year, 15 startup biotech companies are invited to move to downtown San Francisco to take part in an intense four-month program. Each company is given $250,000 in seed money to allow them to turn their ideas into businesses.
In IndieBio’s ‘product-directed discovery programs’ young companies, along with the accelerator’s alumni, investors, biotech entrepreneurs, investors, press, corporate partners, and more will be able to take advantage of the marketplace.
The primary focus of the program is to advance an idea from the bench to a product in four months. The intensive program means that companies will go through the phases of creating a prototype, getting it into the hands of mentors and potential customers, and iterating off of their feedback over and over again.
The startup teams have fully equipped biosafety level 1 and 2 laboratories at their disposal 24/7, along with access to highly-qualified scientists. According to IndieBio’s website, “Entrepreneurs figure out their ten-year vision in order to work backward and build a world changing biotech company.”
