The Filter ends the week with an update on agbiotech in China and an OpEd on using prizes to spur innovation. As always, feel free to comment or ask a question below.

• In the Wall Street Journal‘s report of a potential deal between agricultural giants Monsanto and Sinochem is "an update of China’s efforts to catch up to the US in the agbiotech field":https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303678704576438151534829450.html.
• Melinda Moree, CEO of BIO Ventures for Global Health, writes in the Huffington Post that the Obama administration and other donors should invest in prizes to help meet the urgent challenges of global health.
• By early next year, India and Denmark will launch a joint strategic biotech research program, especially in emerging sectors like stem cells and cell therapy, says Pharmabiz.

Michael Francisco

The Filter returns after a short hiatus wherein your author found himself marveling at the biodiversity of the Puerto Rican rainforest one week, and networking at the Puerto Rico Bio Alliance booth at BIO 2011 the next. Without further ado, here’s your weekend catch-up reading.

• • Bloomberg Businessweek profiles two bioentrepreneurs’ efforts to turn startup BeiGene into the Genentech of China.
• • Speaking at the aforementioned BIO 2011 convention last week in Washington, industry maven Steve Burrill talked up the biotech efforts of developing countries. In addition to the BRICs, now we can add the CIVET countries (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt and Turkey) as “sources of increased international competition for innovation, markets, and capital,” says the Patent Docs blawg.
• • And speaking of Colombia, the home of 10% of the world’s biodiversity hopes to commercialize its resources by financing biotech research, according to SciDevNet.

Please add your thoughts in the comments.

Michael Francisco

Another week in the books, another Filter. Here’s some Father’s Day weekend catch-up reading for those of a bioentrepreneurial bent.

Beijing has identified biotech as one of the strategic industries in which to nurture innovators in order to reduce China’s reliance on foreign technology and create higher-paying jobs, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. But some of its tactics have irritated its trading partners.

In an interview with EurActiv, South Africa’s minister of science and technology Naledi Pandor touches on partnering with the BRIC countries and developing South African biotechnology in conjunction with indigenous knowledge, which is at present not well understood.

Microventures CEO Bill Clark, writing at Mashable, asks how much money should a start-up raise? For biotechs, the answer is “more than others.”

Please add your thoughts in the comments.

Michael Francisco

As the week draws to a close, here are some of the stories that made headlines in the world of bioentrepreneurship this week.

Brazil’s state-run development bank BNDES announced that it would provide 30 billion to 35 billion reais (US $19 billion to $22 billion) for sugar cane ethanol production, vowing to work closely with the private sector to boost production in an industry that has struggled recently despite its immense promise.

The University of Zimbabwe has set up a new business unit to foster an entrepreneurial environment and help researchers commercialize their innovations. Key research areas include the development of animal vaccines, cassava-based foods and renewable energy—specifically solar power and non-carbon fuels.

A controversial 25-hectare biotech park has been given the go-ahead by Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Agency. The National Biotech Park, the brainchild of Taiwan’s Academia Sinica, will be the country’s second biotech center. Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-huey called the day “the most important date” in the country’s biotechnological development.

Come across anything else of note? Add your thoughts in the comments.

Michael Francisco