Ernst & Young’s report on the Biotechnology Industry in 2008 revealed concern about the drought in funding for biotech as well as the need to focus on innovation. Globalization, loss of patent exclusivity on many drugs, and trends toward personalized medicine will affect the biotech industry in the next few years. As always, innovation is the path to success!

Discussion at the recent Neurotechnology Industry Organization (www.NIO.org) conference let Ellen Baron PhD (Oxford Bioscience Partners) to say that the current model of venture capital funding is dead. Venture capitalists can’t hold onto biotech companies until an IPO; they now have to plan to exit earlier with licensing or sale. This alters both the time horizon and the amount of capital available for new investments. The Ernst & Young report describes the status of start-up companies as a Darwinian survival of the fittest.

How does that affect opportunities for new epilepsy drugs, biologics, and devices? Are in the same small life-boat with everyone else?. Some see us as swimming alongside the life-boat because of the perception that epilepsy has lots of effective treatments – why invest in more for a crowded pharmacy shelf? We can’t let the world think that epilepsy is cured or well-controlled by current treatments.

It’s our job to keep the message loud and clear that approximately one million people have poorly controlled seizures, two million people suffer from adverse effects of treatments. More people have epilepsy than multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, muscular dystrophy, and a myriad of other neurological disorders, making it a larger opportunity for biotechnology/neurotechnology companies. I stand up at conferences to remind entrepreneurs and investors that they should come to the Epilepsy Therapy Project for information about opportunities that will help them and people with epilepsy.

If investors have reduced their support, we have to ask you to donate so we can increase the number of grants and seed investments. We don’t want innovation to dry up for lack of funding.

Joyce Cramer,
President