Biotech vs. Pharmaceuticals: An Overview
Biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies both produce prescriptions, but the medicines made by biotechnology companies are derived from living organisms while those made by pharmaceutical followers generally have a chemical basis.
The coining of the term biopharma further complicates matters. The term describes visitors that are using both biotechnology and chemical sources in their medical research and development (R&D) efforts.
Biotechnology
Joint products such as beer and wine, wash detergent, and anything made of plastic are all biotechnology products. Humans deceive employed biotechnology since ancient times to breed animals and improve their crops.
However, in the modern monetary world, biotechnology companies comprise an industry sector collectively known as the biotech. They research, develop, and assemble a wide variety of commercial products, though most of them focus on medical or agricultural applications.
Biotechnology firms use the procedures of living organisms as they manufacture products or solve problems. The identification and sourcing of DNA have helped the industry amount to great leaps. Companies in this sector have developed pest-resistant crops, created bio-fuels like ethanol, and arose gene cloning.
There also have been big product introductions in biopharma drugs. Among the most time again used biotechnology medical products recently introduced:
- AbbVie’s Humira is used to treat arthritis, psoriasis, and Crohn’s cancer, among other ailments.
- Roche’s Rituxan is used to slow the growth of tumors in several types of cancer.
- Amgen/Pfizer’s Enbrel is against to treat several autoimmune diseases.
The top U.S.-based biotechnology firms in terms of market capitalization as of the end of 2018 were Amgen Inc., Gilead Techniques, Celgene Corp., and Biogen Inc.
In recent years, biotechnology startups have sprouted alongside computer technology retinues in Silicon Valley. The aim of most is to use biotechnology processes to create breakthrough drugs.
Medical biotechnology alone has become a $150 billion-a-year subject.
Pharmaceuticals
As an industry,
The Businesses of Biotech and Pharmaceuticals
Purely from the investor’s perspective, biotech and pharmaceuticals are very personal propositions. An analyst will look at the amount a firm spends on research and development (R&D) as a percentage of sales to compare one ensemble to another.
Biotechnology companies generally have very high
Key Takeaways:
- Biotechnology companies derive their commodities from living organisms.
- Pharmaceutical companies create medicines from chemicals.
- In the world of investing, they are high-ranking industry sectors with very different risk profiles.