Biotech news

Glaxo Wellcome appears to have abandoned plans to merge with the US drugs giant Bristol Myers Squibb. Sources claim that informal meetings had taken place, but merger negotiations broke down at the end of last year and are unlikely to be resumed. However, it is thought that Glaxo is looking at two small mergers as an alternative.

A biotechnology meeting, called 'Biovision', held in the French city of Lyon last month concluded that the public's negative perception of biotechnology needs to be overcome if the industry is to realise its full potential. Organised by Raymonde Barr, mayor of Lyon, in conjunction with the US and French academies of science and various international agencies such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), the meeting is intended to be the first of a biannual life-sciences equivalent of Davos - the international policy forum for politicians and industrialists.

The meeting, dominated by discussions of agricultural genetics, bioethics and the problem of public perception, generated a number of recommendations, including the need for 'honest brokers' trusted by the public to explain developments in biotechnology.