Biotech leaders to ask Congress for bailout

Representatives from the U.S. biotech industry will journey to Congress today to seek a government bailout. The New York Times reports that industry execs--led by BIO--want to exchange future tax credits from future profits in exchange for cash now to support research and development. And that support could add up to hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars.

As Times biotech reporter Andrew Pollack notes in his story, the appeal comes at a time that small and and medium-sized biotechs are running out of cash and fresh funds are hard to come by. FierceBiotech has reported daily on the carnage [1] as developers shed workers and programs in a desperate attempt to stay afloat.

Biotech has at least one influential champion in its corner. Allyson Y. Schwartz, who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, says she'll offer the proposal for inclusion in an upcoming stimulus package, and says many of her colleagues are likely to come out in support.

"Innovation and technology are growth areas for American businesses and American workers and should be part of this package," Schwartz told the Times. At the same time, skeptics aren't hard to come by. One notes that small companies that emply 30 people don't offer much by the way of stimulus for the broad economy.

- read the report [2] in the New York Times

Related Articles:
Economic crisis hammers small, mid-sized biotechs [3]
Credit crisis pushes biotechs to the brink [4]
Crisis forces biotechs to cut R&D, preserve cash [5]
Struggling UK biotechs call for funding [6]