As expected, the IPO markets in Europe made their strongest showing in several years in 2005 and have even topped the amount of money raised in the U.S., according to figures released today by PricewaterhouseCoopers in London.

A new report on the state of micromanufacturing around the world.

News Editor Thomas Lau spoke to Florian Schönharting, a partner at the Nordic Biotech, a fund that has invested in Denmark’s Gastrotech BipPharma - a biotechnology company that recently merged with US biotech firm DOR BioPharma. Nordic Biotech, a specialised biotech venture capital fund focusing primarily on Nordic countries and the EU, has invested in Gastrotech since its inception in March 2003.

The countries of Scandinavia and the Baltic have got together to maximise the value of intellectual property, the feedstock of the knowledge economy.

Forget stem cells, pharmacogenomics and the next big cure - Michael Kenward gazes into his prophecy book to see what the physical sciences have in store for us this year. Or maybe not.

European exchanges are opening back up for riskier ventures, and experts expect the trend to continue. But trade-sales should still dominate, says Mary Lisbeth D'Amico.