A BIOTECH UPTICKWhile its peer industries have stumbled, biotech’s net sales have seen healthy growth over the past two years. A February survey of more than 3,000 U.S. businesses by Biomedical Market News found that the value added (value of products for sale less the value of the inputs used to make their products) for the respondents’ businesses totaled $273 billion in 2001, or 2.7 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), according to a report about the use of biotechnology in American industry. In 2001 and 2002, while sales across all industries grew about 6 percent on average annually, net sales for biotech companies grew more than 10 percent. During the same period, while operating incomes for all participating businesses were declining an average of 4 percent, biotech firms experienced an average of 1 percent growth. SOURCE: Biomedical Market News

CUTTING OUTAfter dominating the video subscription market for 10 years, cable’s lost its crown. Since 2001, the number of U.S. households with cable has started to drop, falling back to 1999 levels as of June 2003. Rival mediums include the multi-channel programming video distribution (MPVD) market, which has grown 56 percent from 1993 to June 2003. Cable had only a 15 percent increase in subscribers in the same period, according to a report on video competition by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The real competitor is “The Dish,” or direct broadcast satellite (DBS), which has grown 86 percent since 1993, from 3.1 million users to 23.7 million last year. But while cable is losing ground in the living room, it’s gaining speed in the office: 15 million high-speed Internet subscribers use a cable modem, according to the National Cable and Telecommunications Association year-end report. SOURCE: FCC, NCTA

R&D ROLLS ONExpenditures on research and development in the U.S. increased by 1 percent in 2003, growing from an estimated $250 billion in 2002 to $253 billion in constant 1996 dollars. According to preliminary data and projections by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Science Resource Statistics, industrial efforts accounted for 68 percent of all R&D at about $194 billion, a slight decline from 2002. Educational institutions and the federal government contributed 14 and 9 percent of total funds, respectively. Development sucked in the majority of funds at $162 billion total, or 57 percent. Applied research accounted for just under a quarter at $68 billion. Basic research comprised the remaining 18 percent of all R&D expenditures with $54 billion.SOURCE: National Science Foundation