Editorial

Modern biotechnology by which we refer to techniques involving manipulation or change of the genetic patrimony of living organisms, has had three types of impact on the pharmaceutical, agro-business, agricultural, and chemical industries. It has initiated a radical change in the nature of the search process for the creation of new chemical entities (creation by rational design rather than by trial and error methods); it has led to the creation of radical and incremental product innovations; and finally integration of biotechnology in manufacturing processes has served to bring down the costs of production. The modern biotechnology sectors in the industrial sense began with the creation of US start-ups in the pharmaceutical sector such as Genentech (created in 1976), Genex (created in 1977), and Biogen (created in 1978) that were based entirely on modern biotechnology. These firms referred to as new biotechnology firms or NBFs, were created by scientists who were aware of the potential economic profit that could issue from investment in their fields, and who at the same time were able to attract financial support from equally imaginative venture capitalists [1]. Such NBFs pursued an aggressiv