It's somewhat ironic that we're posting one story bemoaning the lack of investor enthusiasm for biotech in the U.K. even as three other top stories outline a fresh round of buyouts. The lead piece on the acquisition of Organon for a cool $14.4 billion underscores where values are headed in the drug development world. Of course, having Fred Hassan at Schering-Plough bid for your company is an endorsement in its own right. He's done a tremendous job turning Schering-Plough around and he's clearly ready to follow up with some bold moves to make sure his pipeline wins the respect of Wall Street. A few more days like today might help convince the U.K. venture crowd that one of the smartest bets in business today is backing a company with good science and strong drug targets.
The Organon deal also helps illustrate that truly global nature of the biotech industry. Borders will be less and less significant in years to come as companies on different continents meld organizations and share top talent. - John Carroll