"Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success." Thomas A. Edison (1847-1931).

With the US in regulatory limbo, Europe is winning the race to be the first regulated drugs market to approve generic copies of biotech drugs - despite the protests of the biotech pioneers who created them.

A new Swedish company backed by government and business angels aims to create an entire funding ecosystem for young companies until they become ready for venture capital.

A Swiss team has developed a reliable blood test for younger, live cows. Now it is looking for investment to develop a test for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.

A British pharmaceutical distributor, Beckpharma Ltd., said it licensed two Cuban healthcare products to sell in Europe as part of a broader effort for trade links.

Some strange new ways of raising money are starting to emerge - but would-be borrowers and lenders are still making sense of them.

New regulations on the registration and testing of chemicals could have some problematic knock-on effects on European R&D – but they could also bring some lucrative work the way of contract research organisations.