Rating: 
Summary: the perfect book to start with
Review: after reading this book, i took an online biotech seminar at fool.com that suggested all subscribers to read this book... luckily i did and found the seminar to be more interesting than i had thought.this book essentially gets you through the basics about biotech... from how a drug is discovered, tested, approved and marketed. you will learn about the industries various facets; financial, technical, biological etc. highly rated and a wise choice indeed!
Rating: 
Summary: Not Worth It.
Review: Don't judge a book by its title or author. I expected some more insight into the world of biotech and pharma, instead what I got amounted to no more than a school girl reminiscing about her college days. Robbins-Roth proves herself adept at name dropping and anecdotal stores which in the end amount to nothing. Even worse are the endless lists of companies which could be downloaded from any of a hundred internet sites or the black & white charts which are basically unreadable. Don't waste your money. For real insight in the world of Biotech, get a copy of The Billion Dollar Molecule.
Rating:
Summary: Not Worth It.
Review: Don't judge a book by its title or author. I expected some more insight into the world of biotech and pharma, instead what I got amounted to no more than a school girl reminiscing about her college days. Robbins-Roth proves herself adept at name dropping and anecdotal stores which in the end amount to nothing. Even worse are the endless lists of companies which could be downloaded from any of a hundred internet sites or the black & white charts which are basically unreadable. Don't waste your money. For real insight in the world of Biotech, get a copy of The Billion Dollar Molecule.
Rating: 
Summary: making sense out of chaos
Review: dr. robbins-roth's book is the best example i've seen of a text which makes sense of the short yet tangled history of the biotech business. from it's beginning, the biotech business has attracted the dreamers, the -don't-know-how-we'll-get- there-but-we-must-get-there types, and the scientific whiz-kids. this book not only charts the progress of the companies and the products, it also delves into the science and personalities behind the scene. this book is written at a level accessible to the layman, but is complex enough that professionals in the biological sciences will not find it too pedestrian. this is one of the most interesting, hardest-to-put-down science books i've read in many years.
Rating:
Summary: Good Introduction
Review: For someone interested in investing in Biotech and wanting to do homework, this a great book to start with. I have read it twice.
Rating:
Summary: What makes the biotech industry tick?
Review: Frank and open examination of the workings of the biotech industry. Fluid story line with comprehensive cases and concepts. Dynamic writing style kept me entertained as well! Excellent book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Exactly What I Had In Mind
Review: I am a student planning on majoring in molecular biology, with the goal of getting into a biotechnology company. I thought that this book was going to have a little more technical information, but I found that it was mainly a book geared towards investors, not students, or scientists. It has a lot of interesting information on how companies start up, and stock info, but this book is definately not for a person who is mainly interested in the science.
Rating:
Summary: Not Exactly What I Had In Mind
Review: I have stayed away from investing in drugs and biotechs for over 5 years. That is not my area of expertise. This book is great in being a teacher of biotech history and technology. It ties in biotech implications very well with drug development, agriculture, and other roles it will have in society. If you want to learn biotech for the fun of it or because you want to start investing in biotech/genomics, this is a must read. I have to warn you though, after reading this book, I have come to the conclusion that I will be buying a biotech fund instead of buying biotech companies. The book makes things seem to complex and unpredicatbale for picking individual companies for the long term investment prospects. They are just too many and their success is largely reliant on chance and luck. Even if you are a daytrader or swingtrader, by improving your knowledge of the biotech industry, you will improve your chances of making money when you know what the press releases are talking about. Let me finish with why I did not rate this book a 5. The wording that the author chooses is sometimes unclear and downright annoying. There were at least 5 spots where I had to stop and ask myself. Am I just stupid for not understanding what the author is trying to say, or is this written in caveman English. I came to the conclusion that the unclear sentences were the fault of the author. I have read many business/investing books where the author writes concise and flowing text. This book was annoying to read at times because of Robbins-Roth's wordings.
Rating:
Summary: Great Overview/Explanation of the Biotech Industry!
Review: I have stayed away from investing in drugs and biotechs for over 5 years. That is not my area of expertise. This book is great in being a teacher of biotech history and technology. It ties in biotech implications very well with drug development, agriculture, and other roles it will have in society. If you want to learn biotech for the fun of it or because you want to start investing in biotech/genomics, this is a must read. I have to warn you though, after reading this book, I have come to the conclusion that I will be buying a biotech fund instead of buying biotech companies. The book makes things seem to complex and unpredicatbale for picking individual companies for the long term investment prospects. They are just too many and their success is largely reliant on chance and luck. Even if you are a daytrader or swingtrader, by improving your knowledge of the biotech industry, you will improve your chances of making money when you know what the press releases are talking about. Let me finish with why I did not rate this book a 5. The wording that the author chooses is sometimes unclear and downright annoying. There were at least 5 spots where I had to stop and ask myself. Am I just stupid for not understanding what the author is trying to say, or is this written in caveman English. I came to the conclusion that the unclear sentences were the fault of the author. I have read many business/investing books where the author writes concise and flowing text. This book was annoying to read at times because of Robbins-Roth's wordings.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent overview for the non-scientist
Review: I have to say this is required reading for anyone with an interest in biotech - be it they have a PhD and working in industry, or an MBA student with aspirations of getting into it. It's relatively up to date, contains great explanations of some very esoteric technologies, and puts it all into a business perspective.
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