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‘Tis the month of December
And as the year ends,
We send Seasons Greetings
To colleagues and friends.
The year has been challenging,
Fraught with financial concerns.
Companies tightened their belts
And reduced their cash burns.
IPOs this year
Were infrequent and few,
But Fluidigm, Clovis and Solazyme
Made their Nasdaq debut.
The Bay Area is resourceful
And entrepreneurship still thrives.
The BayBio Fellows
Now exceed sixty-five.
FDA this year
To 30 drugs gave a nod:
Horizant and Zelboraf launched;
Xenoport, Plexxikon/Genentech we applaud.
But not all companies
At approvals were successful.
For Aryx and others
FDA delays were quite stressful.
Mergers and acquisitions this year
Continued unabated:
Dupont-Genencor, Gilead-Calistoga, Jazz-Azur
Now are related.
Industrial biotech is hot
And biofuel jobs grew.
United Airlines’ planes
On Solazyme’s biofuel flew.
It’s a changed world,
With pending Healthcare Reform;
Reimbursement concerns
Make pharmaco-economics the norm.
In 2012
We hope to gain traction
On federal policies
That require swift action.
Let capital flow
To fund innovation.
Repatriate off-shore profits;
Create jobs in our nation.
Please FDA, review drugs
With consistency and speed;
Balance risk and benefit
For patients in need.
In California,
Improve STEM education.
Make science careers
A desired vocation.
To fuel, feed and heal
The world is our mission.
And we’ll persevere
In this noble ambition.
Changing the world isn’t easy,
There is no free pass.
But working together
We’ll make contributions that last.
From the team at BayBio
We wish you good cheer.
Happy holidays to all,
And to all a good year.
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