I'll be in Paris for a few days at DIA's annual European meeting and I'm planning to send a steady stream of news from the conference. In talking recently with John Vogel--a noted consultant with considerable experience in clinical trials--he noted that while a lot of the industry talk recently has focused on trends and activities in India and China, the big shift in trials has been toward Europe. U.S. drug makers need European trials to recruit the patients necessary to demonstrate safety and efficacy. And of course, the European market for biopharma is already well developed. Over the next year, I plan to significantly increase our focus on more international developments in biotechnology. Globalization is nothing new in biotech, of course. No country operates in a vacuum, and neither does disease. And neither, for that matter, does FierceBiotech.
As an aside, I'd just like to thank readers for a recent stream of unsolicited praise we've been receiving for the newsletter. Naturally, readers routinely send me suggestions, criticisms, occasional rants and so on. And companies in the news are in touch 24/7. But it's always good to hear from readers that are responding to the daily missives from FierceBiotech. You are what this newsletter is all about. So keep those cards and emails coming. Also, I'll be finalizing the Fierce 15 list in the coming days, so any suggestions you may have should be in no later than the end of this week. - John Carroll