Corporate Venture Takes Center Stage

Corporate venture groups are poised to become one of the main sources of funding for early-stage biotechs thanks to the current economic climate. Even if corporate venture groups invest at the same levels as previous years, some industry veterans believe they could play a role in up to half of the early-stage financings this year, largely because the traditional sources of financing--the public market and venture capital groups flush with cash--have disappeared. And the new vigor of corporate venture offers big benefits to both small biotechs and Big Pharma.