Law under the Microscope

Nanotech Cure for Cancer?

I'll be posting more later today on some regulatory/legal developments in the bioscience world, but wanted to pass along this article from Wired online. This could be a great development in treatment for various diseases - using nifty little nanoscale molecules that have tiny tendrils on them to administer vaccines and other medicines. Cheery news like this is always necessary to counter so much of the negative results and news we get inundated with these days.

More Money Pouring into Nanotechnology

Industry experts estimate that nanotech R&D spending will top $8.6B this year alone. That's a pretty impressive investment, especially considering how skittish and confused the nanotech market has been with Nanosys pulling its IPO a couple weeks ago. That whole situation threw a wrench in what many saw as the beginning of a true nanotech market, as up 'til now, there are few products out there that incorporate nanotechnology. Some may have had hopes that were flying too high as no IPO is going to make a product suddenly appear (as we all painfully remembered in 2001 with the tech bubble).

Hold on the Confetti

After much fanfare and anticipation, Nanosys has withdrawn its IPO filing. It's rather a bummer and a small deflation of the nanotech sails, as many investors, analysts and other tech companies were waiting to see what the IPO would go for as a benchmark of sorts for the valuation of the industry.