On June 24, the Obama Administration announced new objectives for the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI), which was launched in 2011 to reduce the development time of materials for advanced manufacturing and to promote materials research collaborations. As part of the new objectives, the NIST will invest $25 million over five years in a new Center […]

R&D spending by drug firms 2012–2018 will have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.4% to $149.4 billion, compared to 6.6% for 2004–2011. Pharmaceutical R&D spending fell 0.3% in 2012 to $137.4 billion and should fall 1.5% this year but grow 1.6% in 2014. Novartis is expected to maintain its position from 2012 to […]

This month’s Supreme Court decision that human genes cannot be patented is unlikely to affect pharmaceutical and GMO companies. The ruling held that isolated DNA cannot be patented because it occurs naturally, but that complementary DNA (cDNA), a synthetic form of DNA, can. One analysis estimates that patents on over 8,000 genes, less than 4,000 […]

The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Medium-Term Oil Market Report, released in May, states that North American production related to shale gas, light tight oil (LTO) and oil sands is expected to affect all aspects of the oil supply chain over the next five years. Among non-OPEC producers, North American supply is forecast to grow by […]

Revenues for 598 publicly held biotech companies grew 8.1% last year to $89.8 billion, compared to 10% in 2011. R&D expenditures increased 5.4% to $25.3 billion, compared to 9% in 2011. Revenues from US public firms increased 8.3% to $63.7 billion, and R&D spending grew 7.3% to $19.3 billion. In 2011, US public firms’ sales […]