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CANADIAN LIFE SCIENCE
CANADIAN LIFE SCIENCE
by Wayne schnarr
assessing The canaDian BioTech financing gap: WHat sourCes leFt, WHy & HoW to rePlaCe tHeM Biotech discoveries have a finite period within which they need to be commercialized, unlike gold and oil which can sit in the ground for decades and probably increase in value. Many biotech discoveries are now stagnating because Canadian biotech has suffered from a large financing gap for over four years. The annual gap might be approaching $1 billion when considering reduced levels of financing for private and public companies, plus the missed opportunities for growth and establishment of new companies. This problem and potential solutions can be assessed using the capital market concept of risk and reward. There is a wide spectrum of risk, ranging from government bonds and GICs at the low end to high risk discovery companies in resources, technology and biotech. There is also a wide spectrum of rewards, from the current two per cent GIC rates to potentially several hundred per cent, or more, returns for a successful discovery company. 20 BIOTECHNOLOGY FOCUS MARCH 2012
