Editor's Letter

Welcome to the Spring issue of European Biopharmaceutical Review, and with it what we all hope will be ongoing cause for optimism in the European biotechnology sector. Specifically, the successful flotation of Ark Therapeutics plc, raising £55 million on the London Stock Exchange at the beginning of March, is a very welcome development for all with an interest in European biotechnology and, most pertinently, to a number of other similar stage companies with products in development. Hopefully it will be the first of many for this group.

The prospect of a season of IPOs is likely to have significant impact elsewhere too - due diligence, for example will be increasingly in demand and rigorous, as illustrated by the articles in this issue from Bird & Bird and McGrigors. On a different level, the impact on deal-making between pharma and biotech, and indeed biotech and biotech, is likely to intensify as more and more product candidates start to come through the genomic/proteomic revolution, using more sophisticated biomarker and array-enabled proof-of-concept testing in vitro and in vivo. I am delighted to say that there is a real wealth of articles covering all of these aspects in this issue of EBR - from the deal-making reviews of DydoDelta Biosciences and PharmaVentures to the features on cell and array-based assays from ESBATech AG, VBC-Genomics, Evotec OAI and the like.

In particular, the impact of new technologies, new testing paradigms and new competition is well-reviewed in the areas of CNS, Oncology and HIV Clinical by Professor Gordon McVie, independent Oncology Advisor and Dr Phil Collis, VP Scientific Affairs at Inveresk Research. In addition, Dr Betsy Hughes-Formella of Bioskin GmbH and Dr Doris Heger-Mahn and colleagues from dinox GmbH lead interesting and provocative articles relating to conducting clinical trials in dermatology and reproductive medicine respectively, whilst Dr Francois Geelen expands on the real differences and practicalities of conducting clinical trials in different European countries (with a focus on Germany) under the new ICH framework.