© 1998 by Oxford University Press
Nearly three decades after two California scientists pioneered recombinant DNA technology, biomedical research is undergoing explosive growth, and the industry fueling that growth is poised to break even financially for the first time ever.
Over the last year, the biotechnology industry in the United States has seen a 20% jump in product sales, setting a new industry record. This milestone is due in large part to the accelerated pace at which biologics have gained marketing approval in recent years: almost as many biologically based drugs and devices were approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1997 as were approved in the entire decade of the 1980s.
"We are on the brink of a revolution in medicine," summed up David G. Nance, president and chief executive officer of Introgen Therapeutics, Inc., in Austin, Texas. "The medicines used to treat our parents and keep them Biotechnology Industry Roars Into The Millennium