For the first half of 2011, corporate venture funds comprised 12% of overall venture capital investment, up from 5.3% in 2010, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association. Corporate venture funds were responsible for 25% of early-stage biotech financing in the first half of this year, versus 15% for all of last year. […]

EvaluatePharma predicts some shuffling of the list of the world’s top drug firms through 2016. The top spot, which Pfizer has held for nine years, will be usurped by Sanofi next year. Sanofi’s projected five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4% should allow it to maintain first place through 2016. Novartis is expected to […]

The EPA has announced it will set standards for wastewater discharges resulting from coalbed methane extraction and shale gas extraction and issue a proposed rule for each in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Shale gas extraction has grown to comprise nearly 15% of US natural gas production. Wastewater from such extractions cannot be directly discharged into […]

Agricultural R&D is increasing after years of stagnation. As the price of food, measured in real terms, fell over the last 20 years, so did R&D investment. However, demand increased, leading to lower productivity. R&D is critical to address the growing scarcity of water, soil and other natural resources. DNA sequencing and bioinformatics are among […]

Global semiconductor capital equipment spending should reach $43.5 billion in 2011, a 7.1% increase from 2010, but will stall for the rest of this year and into next, dropping 19.2% to $35.2 billion in 2012. Gartner predicts that the capital spending decline will be due to too much electronics inventory and weak demand because of […]