20 Years of Burrill Biotech CD-ROM

We are just over 30 years into the biotechnology revolution. Following the emergence of the first biotechnology companies in the 1970s, three events in 1980 stimulated the emergence of biotech as an industrial sector in the United States and around the world. First, the pivotal Supreme Court decision of Ananda v. Chakrabarty allowed that genetically manipulated organisms could be patented. Second, the U.S. Congress passed the Bayh-Dole Act, allowing recipients of federal research funding to secure patents. Third, Genentech the first publicly traded biotechnology company set a record in its initial public offering, as its stock price soared from $35 to $89 per share in 20 minutes. Within five years, almost 700 biotech companies were founded in the United States, and about 150 went public.

Since these early heady days of the biotechnology revolution, the industry has grown, evolved, faced numerous challenges and obstacles, survived, and prospered. Biotechnology continues to thrive, playing a critically important role in introducing innovative products and practices to the market and to allied industries. Biotech today is stronger than ever, and its future prospects have never looked brighter.