What can we learn from the Oscars?
Last night many people in the NY-NJ-CT region missed the Oscars beamed from the Academy Awards after an argument over money between CableVision and ABC. If a Biotech company and their big Pharma partner has a spat, it is rarely as public or has as much impact as TV deals do, but the shock waves can certainly be felt through the investor community every time a high profile predatory shareholder such as Carl Icahn gets their teeth into a biotech such as Genzyme or Biogen IDEC.
It was interesting that the year’s biggest grossing, most expensive and stunning film, ‘Avatar’, lost out to a smaller, niche film about the Iraqi war, ‘The Hurt Locker’, with a stronger plot, storyline and superb acting.
It’s a bit like a baby Biotech producing a string of new products with solid efficacy doing well, much as Genentech did with Herceptin, Tarceva and Avastin or Amgen did in their early days with Neupogen and Epogen. Eventually, of course, the new kid on the block becomes household name and new companies rise behind them with new science and a solid underpinning.
After the austerity of last year’s Awards ceremony, this year’s Oscars were a little more lavish by comparison. I wonder if that is a metaphor for the economy in general, with less doom and gloom and some signs that things are picking up?
Art ultimately reflects life.
The big question is, who are the next generation of big Biotech's in the making?
One Response to “What can we learn from the Oscars?”
Interesting analogy. I really feel that the win for both best director and best film was decided based on James Cameron’s recent attitude and ego due to his economic achievements and creation of a new film genre. The academy probably didn’t want his head to get too big and wanted to give credit to other filmmakers and actors who often go unnoticed. Made for a bigger media splash as well. Now here is an interesting question; If there was a category for best Scientific Journal at the Oscars who would win? Let us know what you think. http://cbt20.wordpress.com/2010/03/07/an-oscar-cagegory-for-the-best-proteomics-journal/
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