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.

Senexis Ltd. spun-out of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology to develop novel therapeutics and diagnostics for currently incurable aging-related disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and type 2 diabetes. In addition to being more prevalent in the older population, these diseases also share a similar underlying etiology; they are all associated with amyloidosis.