Biotechnology Industry FactsBiotechnology industry originated in the 1970s,
based largely on a new recombinant DNA technique
whose details were published in 1973 by Stanley
Cohen of Stanford University and Herbert Boyer of the
University of California, San Francisco. Recombinant
DNA is a method of making proteins—such as human
insulin and other therapies—in cultured cells under
controlled manufacturing conditions. Boyer went on
to co-found Genentech, which today is biotechnology’s
largest company by market capitalization.
Biotechnology has created more than 200 new therapies
and vaccines, including products to treat cancer,
diabetes, HIV/AIDS and autoimmune disorders.
n There are more than 400 biotech drug products and
vaccines currently in clinical trials targeting more
than 200 diseases, including various cancers, Alzheimer’s
disease, heart disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis,
AIDS and arthritis.
Biotechnology is responsible for hundreds of medical
diagnostic tests that keep the blood supply safe
from the AIDS virus and detect other conditions early
enough to be successfully treated. Home pregnancy
tests are also biotechnology diagnostic products.
Consumers are enjoying biotechnology foods such as
papaya, soybeans and corn. Biopesticides and other
agricultural products also are being used to improve
our food supply and to reduce our dependence on
conventional chemical pesticides.
Environmental biotechnology products make it possible
to clean up hazardous waste more efficiently by
harnessing pollution-eating microbes without the use
of caustic chemicals.
Industrial biotechnology applications have led to cleaner
processes that produce less waste and use less energy and
water in such industrial sectors as chemicals, pulp and
paper, textiles, food, energy, and metals and minerals. For
example, most laundry detergents produced in the United
States contain biotechnology-based enzymes.
DNA fingerprinting, a biotech process, has dramatically
improved criminal investigation and forensic
medicine, as well as afforded significant advances in
anthropology and wildlife management.
The biotech industry is regulated by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and the Department of Agriculture
(USDA).
As of Dec. 31, 2005, there were 1,415 biotechnology
companies in the United States, of which 329 were
publicly held.
Market capitalization, the total value of publicly traded
biotech companies (U.S.) at market prices, was $410
billion as of Dec. 31, 2005.
The biotechnology industry has mushroomed since
1992, with U.S. health-care biotech revenues increasing
from $8 billion in 1992 to $50.7 billion in 2005.
Biotechnology is one of the most research-intensive
industries in the world. The U.S. biotech industry
spent $19.8 billion on research and development in
2005.
n The top five biotech companies invested an average of
$130,000 per employee in R&D in 2005.
n In 1982, recombinant human insulin became the first
biotech therapy to earn FDA approval. The product
was developed by Genentech and Eli Lilly and Co.
Corporate partnering has been critical to biotech
success. In 2005, biotech companies signed 564 new
agreements with pharmaceutical firms and 354 with
fellow biotechs, according to BioWorld.
Most biotechnology companies are young companies
developing their first products and depend on investor
capital for survival. Biotechnology attracted more than
$20 billion in financing in 2005 and has raised more
than $100 billion since 2000.
The biosciences—including not just biotechnology
but all life sciences activities—employed 1.2 million
people in the United States in 2004 and generated an
additional 5.8 million related jobs.
The average annual wage of U.S. bioscience workers
was $65,775 in 2004, more than $26,000 greater than
the average private sector annual wage.
Bioethanol—made from crop wastes using biotech
enzymes—could meet a quarter of U.S. energy needs
by 2025.
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) was
founded in 1993 to represent biotechnology companies
at the local, state, federal and international
levels. As of December 2006, BIO’s membership consisted
of more than 1,100 biotechnology companies,
academic centers, state and local associations and
related enterprises.