A big biotech crowd has descended on San Francisco for the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. The annual deal-fest aims at putting together entrepreneurs from 296 companies with investors at a time when licensing deals are hotter than ever. Burrill & Co. noted that the industry inked $17.1 billion in new licensing deals last year, up from $10.9 billion in 2004. With big pharma still struggling to reload its pipeline, 2006 is shaping up as another big year in biotechnology. About 7,000 attendees have turned out for the conference.
- read this article from the San Francisco Chronicle