Richard L. Hudson

Europe needs more "angel" investors to finance its start-ups. A Prague conference highlights why it isn't getting them.

For 30 years, the European Commission has been trying to fix the broken patent process, but keeps running afoul of entrenched intestests. Is it any wonder that European countries keep dropping in the world patent leagues?

At the Science Business roundtable in Paris on 7 March, labour was the big talking point - both inside and outside the conference room.

There’s just one problem with the idea of a European Institute of Technology – some of the businesses and universities it’s supposed to benefit don’t want it.

Europe is lousy at reaping the commercial benefits of its R&D. To spur reform, Science|Business is preparing a “manifesto” of policy measures for technology transfer and innovation. What’s needed? A revolution.

On 26 January, in London, Science|Business organised a roundtable of executives in the biotech industry to discuss the state of the market. The consensus: investor appetite for biotech companies is on the rise.

"I didn't think they would be at this stage for decades, let alone within a year." Gerald Schatten, colleague of Korea's stem-cell celebrity, before scandal broke

Lab-supply companies are normally in the business of selling things to scientists, rather than buying. But the new CEO of Sigma-Aldrich, one of the world's largest lab-supply firms, is shopping for new ideas, new partners - and new companies to invest in.