Since 2000, there have been almost four times more product licensing deals signed for North America than for Europe. Granted, Europe is a more complex market, and the US produces a higher proportion of new drugs. But the figures spell a big opportunity for those firms able to offer truly pan-European scope and expertise.

Thanks to its speedy deal with Zentaris (a subsidiary of Degussa), two-year old discovery-based start up Ardana Bioscience has leaped into the clinic with a phase II product. Now it's planning more late-stage deals, hoping that investors who typically ignore early-stage companies will finance a commercially focused organization with a track record of in-licensing the right drugs.

Encouraged by successes in the biotech space, public market investors' interest in the device arena has returned in 2004 to support 10 companies' IPOs so far. Windhover's analysis of the valuations achieved indicate that private investors in these companies have, on average, enjoyed larger returns than their biotech counterparts.