Issue link: https://industrialmanagement.epubxp.com/i/249982
In February 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved, for the first time, a bionic eye. The eye allows individuals with a blindness called retinitis pigmentosa to detect light and dark. Then, in August 2013, two scientists, Rajesh Rao and Andrea Stocco, achieved noninvasive human brainto-brain interfacing. Rao successfully controlled the hand movements of Stocco, who was all the way across the University of Washington's campus, with a brain signal transmitted via the Internet. In September 2013, Oregon Health & Science University reported the discovery of an AIDS vaccine candidate that appears to completely clear an AIDS-causing virus from the body. Every day, mind-boggling breakthroughs are made in the realm of biotechnology. Biotechnology leverages a cell's manufacturing capabilities to put biological molecules, such as DNA and proteins, to use. The primary areas of biotech application are healthcare, food and agriculture, industry and the environment. Ernst & Young estimated the worldwide biotech industry revenue for publicly held companies to be $89.8 billion in 2012. Of that, the U.S. accounted for $63.7 billion. While most biotech developments still occur in the United States, more and more countries are investing in biotech, and the field soon will become global. Last year, Scientific American analyzed the biotech industry of 54 countries, 18 more countries than it took into consideration in 2009. Because we now live in an era of biotechnology, companies will be made and destroyed with groundbreaking inventions. The trillion dollar question is: Where is biotechnology headed? The current state To answer this question, we should begin by analyzing where the technology is now. Companies will be made and destroyed with groundbreaking inventions. Currently, the pharmaceutical industry is perhaps the biggest beneficiary of biotech. When we look at the stock performances of enterprises that use biotech, the strongest performers are pharmaceutical companies, such as Gilead, Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc. and MannKind Corp. Due to aging populations in developed countries and increased wealth and access to drugs in developing countries, global drug sales hit the $1 trillion mark last year for the first time in history. Genetically engineered drugs – drugs generated with living cells rather than with chemicals – account for an estimated 10 percent of the total global prescription drugs market. Thus far, genetically engineered drugs target diseases such as various cancers, Alzheimer's, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, AIDS and arthritis. Additionally, 650 new biotech drugs and vaccines targeting more than 100 diseases are under development. Large pharmaceutical companies, such as Pfizer and Merck, are investing in biosimilars, generic impersonations of biotech drugs, because of their profitability and the high sales growth of such drugs. Consumers benefit from this trend because they receive access to more drug choices and prices. Agribio, or agricultural biotechnology, companies have benefitted from biotechnology the longest. Commercialization of biotech crops began in 1996, and as of 2012, genetically modified (GM) seeds are planted in 28 countries – 20 developing countries and eight industrial countries. In 2012, the U.S., Brazil, Argentina, Canada and India grew the most biotech crops. In contrast, the European Union continues to fight the use of GM crops through stringent regulations. Critics are concerned about the health and environmental effects of the crops as well as the concentration of supplying power by just a few corporations. In July 2013, Monsanto gave up trying to grow new january/february 2014 11