Enzyme Technologies
Chemical Biology of Enzymes for Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Applications, by Yang, Hsiu-Chiung / Yeh, Wu-Kuang / McCarthy, J. R.

Highlighting the critical importance of enzymes in pharmaceutical and biotechnology research, Enzyme Technologies presents thorough discussions on chemical biology of enzymes, redesigning binding and catalytic specificities of enzymes, and applications of enzymes to biotechnology research in the post-genomic era.

This timely review presents researchers, students, and faculty with expert reviews of recent progress in comprehending molecular mechanisms of biosynthetic and biocatalytic processes as well as how to utilize that knowledge for practical applications.

17th Annual Global CEO Survey: CEOs from the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry share their thinking on a variety of issues, including growth strategies, skills shortages, technology innovation, changing demographics and economic trends.

Pharmaceuticals and life sciences CEOs believe that technology is transforming the sector and they're using strength in innovation to make the most of it. They're also focused on regulation and integrity. Facing the talent challenge is a key priority too, particularly with demographics and shifts in wealth also radically reshaping the sector.

Business anc collaboration models are changing in the pharmaceutical and biotechs sector. Open Innovation enters the play with strength.
Being involved in both, in Open innovation and in Biotechs/Pharmaceutical projects, MAC-Team here proposes an outlook of various initiatives in the field.
You can start on Open Innovation, Open source ... aproaches at different levels depending on your strengths, your capacity in leveraging informaiton. You are not obliged to put everything on a plate right from start. you need a clear strategy on that. But, the most successful or fast developing actors are often the ones able to go in the direction of open innovation 2.0. This has been especially true outside the Pharmceutical sector, but this pharmaceutical/biotech sector is now confronted to a suffocating business model. This sector is now going for new business approaches and open innovation is a leading one.
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This brief EU Industrial policy overview for the Bio-based products sector is an extract of the report published January 22, 2014. This staff working document illustrates trends and the impact of the crisis on production, investment, productivity, employment, skills and innovation. It also describes the EU performance in the international arena and considers possible benefits from improvements in the internal market regulations.

Estimates suggest that in 2010 bio-based products accounted for 10% of sales within the global chemical industry, representing 125 billion dollars in value. However, the share could rise to as much as 20% depending on the development of technologies, feedstock prices and policy framework.
Based on an assessment presented in the 2012 Commission Communication on the bio-economy strategy, the segment of bio-based industries in the EU currently represents approximately 57 billion € in annual turnover with 300,000 jobs involved. Bio-based industries encompass the following main categories: Bio-based lubricants, polymers, surfactants, solvents and chemical building blocks; Enzymes and Biofuels, estimated respectively at 50 billion, 0.8 billion and 6 billion € annual turnover.
Europe is technologically well positioned to spearhead the switch to a low carbon society with strong agricultural, agro-food and forestry sectors and world-leading companies in the plant breeding, biotech and chemical/biochemical, engineering and energy industries.
Although the EU industry has already started to make significant investments in bio-refineries - e.g. in France, Germany, Finland, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Spain – this has so far been done in a fragmented manner. Europe needs to maintain its competitive edge by consolidating and capitalizing its prominent knowledge base and creating the necessary framework conditions for industry to increase its investments in Europe.

This brief EU Industrial policy overview for the Pharmaceutical sector is an extract of the report published January 22, 2014. This staff working document illustrates trends and the impact of the crisis on production, investment, productivity, employment, skills and innovation. It also describes the EU performance in the international arena and considers possible benefits from improvements in the internal market regulations.

Europe has traditionally been a world leader in the pharmaceutical sector. This high-tech industry presents an excellent overall performance and has been particularly resilient to the crisis and therefore, it can be considered as one of the gems of the European economy. The reasons why a viable European pharmaceutical industry is of the utmost importance are four-fold:
1°) it contributes to the health and the quality of life of our citizens by providing remedies to an ever-increasing number of patients. As the burden of disease is likely to increase as a consequence of the ageing European population it is to be expected that the 9.5% GDP spending on healthcare costs, including pharmaceutical treatment, on average across OECD countries in 2010 will increase significantly in the coming years.
2°) the healthcare sector and in particular the pharmaceutical industry is of economic significance, as demonstrated by €157 billion in annual turnover and 660,000 employees (of whom 110,000 are researchers).
3°) the European pharmaceutical industry serves as a major contributor to the EU's position as a successful trading power. In fact, the European Union is the world's major trader in medicinal and pharmaceutical products enjoying a trade surplus of EUR 56 billion in 2012.
4°) the world market of medical products is a growth market, i.e. global spending on medicines will grow to nearly $1.2 trillion by 2016. While the developed markets are expected to grow slowly due to the sustained impact of the global economic crisis, emerging markets will become the major sources of demand.