366 RüdigerKunow
concerned with the emergent possibilities of the life sciences" (M.
Cooper, Life as Surplus 3). In view of faltering profits from the
traditional forms of mass-production, new life science industries have
emerged whose primary interest is in the sources from which new or
enhancedlifeformscanbegeneratedandmarketed.^62 Inresponsetothis
process, venture capital, for quite some time now, has gone
disproportionatelyintobiotechnologicalR&D,oftentimesintostart.The
market dynamics of the biotech industry continue unabated. A recent
reportoftheInvestingNewsNetworkfound:
[new]productsarecomingfastandfurious.Theimmuno-therapymarket
looks to be exploding, with cancer vaccines entering clinical trials and
some nearing commercialization... Gene therapies are also getting
closer to market: in fact, Spark Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ONCE) could
have the first approved in the United States as soon as next year.
Meanwhile, the revolutionary gene editing technique CRISPR-Cas 9 is
finallyinhumantrials.Newproductsandclinicaldataaren’tthesector’s
only promising indicators. Although noting that the industry still hasn’t
totally recovered from the volatility of 2016, Reni Benjamin, an analyst
with Raymond James & Associates, told us that "late 2H16 began to
show signs of life for the sector in terms of financing and M&A
activity."Heexpectstoseemoreofthatin2017:“Webelievethesector
is likely to return to the fundamentals with M&A and the strength of
clinicaldatabeingthefundamentaldrivers.(C.Prattn.pag.)The rating agency Standard and Poor's estimates that aggregate
earnings of the biotech industry will grow at rates of approximately 25
per cent annually. The market dynamics and the prospects for solid
returns for investments are also weighed against the expected
performance in other investment sectors. As one of the players in the
market noted, "price increases, inversion deals and various types of
financial engineering as some of those alternative money-making
(^62) Amilestoneintheextractionofprofitsfromownershipofthebuildingblocks
of organic life was the 1980 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Diamond v.
Chakrabartywhichforthefirsttimeallowedthepatentingoflife-forms.