The launch of FierceBiotech's website--FierceBiotech.com--has met with a considerable amount of success. Of all of the FierceMarkets sites, FierceBiotech has been garnering some of the highest numbers of web visitors. We're usually right at or near the top of the list. My hat goes off to the Web development team, but of course readers have helped out with suggestions along the way. I'd like to get more feedback on the channels we list on the site where readers can look up industry-specific news. We're adding economic development and oncology to the list, but any other suggestions would be welcome. In the meantime, if you haven't been to the website, try it out soon. It's a great place for research on the field and will be there in case your report doesn't arrive in your inbox as usual. The same holds true for FierceBioResearcher, which focuses on the research and development side of the business.
On another note: Anyone looking for examples of the kind of high stakes biotechnology plays with need look no farther than the top two news items today. Both Nuvelo and NeoPharm saw their shares go into a meltdown this morning after disappointing Phase III results. Critics of the drug development process might consider the heavy losses associated with trial failures before heaping more abuse on a system that can also hand out huge rewards to the winners of this industry. For every blockbuster that hits the market, there's a lineup of companies that had to deal with some significant travails along the way. - John Carroll