Credit crunch

The Norwegian Government is weighing a Euro 300M rescue package for the biotech industry as part of a national financial rescue package it is due to announce by the end of January.

Select companies can still find funding from venture capitalists and the public market; others are using the depressed economy to cut costs.

Despite being the first country in the Eurozone to go into recession, the Irish government said it would maintain funding for Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), with a commitment of Euro 179 million in the 2009 budget.