The Business of Biotech, Article Review Example

Over the last decade, there has been a growth in the use and interests in biotechnology. In “The Business of Biotech,” (2000) author Julie Hanna, writes on the boom in biotech during the turn of the century. In 2000, the biotech industry was just getting underway as many analysts and scientists were eager to get started on the biotech revolution. Hanna unknowingly discussed several pertinent concerns and provided predicaments that are a reality now.  Hanna eloquently pointed out that many believed, “if the 1990s belonged to the Internet, a new decade marks the advent of another dramatic revolution—the coming of age of biotechnology” (Hanna, 2000). The article discussed the future of drug companies, as well as the challenges, controversies, and issues that the industry will face. This is included genetic engineering, ownership of genes in the Human Genome Project, fears of environmental impact, and ethical concerns of the industry.

The industry started up in 1999, with hundreds of millions already poured into different companies that were hoping to make headlines, such as curing Aids or Cancer. (Hanna 2000) The leaders in the industry knew that in order to succeed they must have strong management, development capabilities, and more importantly that biotech is a business. Competition was increasingly a problem at the beginning of the industry, as it has increased recently with the introduction of several new bio-tech and pharmaceutical companies that utilize advanced technology. The push for the biotech industry is dependent on the hopes of revolutionizing the medical field in which technology will be developed to treat patients based on their genetic makeup, and revolutionary technology to advance significant medical treatment. The article provides information on how the change in the medicine was dependent on developments in biotech, including the way doctors looked at various forms of cancer, how doctors look at patient’s heart, and overall the way they studied the human body. Overall the industry has changed the way in which doctors operate, and the way we look at diseases. What the article suggested, and what many believe, is by keeping the public informed, fears will be diminished, and more discoveries will be made.

References

Hanna, Julia. (2000). The Business of Biotech. The Harvard Business School.