Commercial Biotechnology

Biotechnology has gained a lot of importance in a wide range of commercial processes and technologies recently including waste treatment and management, agriculture, pulp and paper industry, fermentation and brewing, pharmaceuticals, information technology, drug development and surfactant industry. This book focuses on various aspects of commercial biotechnology beginning from the advent of classical biotechnology and its journey towards modern day biotechnology.Classical Biotechnology relied mostly on the principles of plant and animal biology. Most of the biomolecules that we know about today were either not discovered or not characterized back then. Soon after the discovery of double helical structure of DNA and invention of PCR by Kary Mullis, a massive shift in was witnessed in biological research.In the book, the articles have been included which discuss about processes like fermentation, cell culture, Genetically Modified Organisms, biofuels, nanobiotechnology, enzyme technology and plant biotechnology. There are articles that talk about the commercial success and challenges faced by companies based on biotechnology. I hope it will be insightful for the readers and help them understand the subject in depth.

The Business of Biotechnology: From the Bench to the Street thoroughly examines the existing and future business challenges for biotechnology, providing a unique insight into the intricate web of critical factors with which biotechnology entrepreneurs must come to terms if they wish to be successful. The book begins with discussions of the evolution of biotechnology; entrepreneurship in the biotechnology industry; university-industry technology transfer process; and the life cycle of a biotechnology company. It considers the prospects for biotechnology, from the perspective of a venture capitalist and human resource practitioner. There are separate chapters that deal with the cloning and expression of recombinant gene products; developing strategies to reduce the cost-to-produce (CTP) therapeutic proteins; intellectual property protection; and the regulation of commercial biotechnology. The final chapters cover the marketing of biotechnology companies and products; the performance of biotechnology stocks; mergers and acquisitions in the biotechnology industry, and prospects for the Japanese and European biotechnology industry.