Scientific American to unveil the most comprehensive country-by-country comparison of biotechnology-innovation capacity at the BIO International Convention As athletes around the world prepare to travel to London for the 2012 Olympic Games, Scientific American gets set to unveil the worlds premiere performers in biotechnology through its 4th Annual Worldview Report and Scorecard.

This summer, more than 200 countries will parade their best of the best in the opening ceremonies in London, as Scientific American celebrates the leaders in biotechnology and, simultaneously, encourages countries seeking to expand their biotechnology-innovation capacity.

The parallels between the Olympics and biotechnology run even more deeply, including variations in rules around the world impacting performances. At the 1972 Munich games, for example, a last-minute rule change banned gold medal-favorite Bob Seagrens vaulting pole, forcing him to compete with unfamiliar equipment, although he still fought his way to a silver medal. Similarly, champions in biotechnology must find ways to perform under the pressure of shifting rules in different lands. For instance, some biotechnology crops can be planted in certain countries but not in others, and pharmaceutical regulators often talk about harmonization more than they achieve it. In the end, all players in the biotechnology industry could benefit from Seagrens never-give-up attitude.

As the world of biotechnology evolves, so does the Scientific American Worldview Scorecard. This year, 50 countries will be included in the index and there is a new metric that measures a countrys policy climate and stability. In addition, the protection of intellectual property (IP) and its impact on biotechnology innovation is explored in-depth. This years Scorecard also examines data in some new areas, including collaboration and medical tourism, which shows the interactive nature of a range of elements related to a countrys capabilities for encouraging biotechnology innovation.

Based on the past four years of data gathering, Scientific American can now start looking across time at trends in country scores and rankings, as well as the changing dynamics of the biotechnology industry since the economic crisis that started in 2007.

The Scientific American Worldview Report and Scorecard will use its four-year comparison of overall scores and country rankings to highlight the competitive nature of the biotechnology industry. In the past four years, Scientific American has added countries, incorporated new metrics and adjusted the methodology to improve the comparative power of this index. Despite the evolution of the Scorecards techniques, we can analyze the performance of countries over time to reveal some consistencies as well as some volatility, and explore ongoing trends by comparing results year-over-year.

Beyond the countries that climb our Scorecard podium, this years version places more emphasis than ever on the value of smaller companies and countries with less mature biotechnology industries. The breadth of this industry and its ongoing expansion makes it possible for a wide range of players to compete, especially ones who make the best of their inherent capabilities, such as natural resources, or team up with other players around the world.

Which country will win gold in greatest public company revenues? Which country will reign supreme for most public companies overall? Which country has the strongest patent protection? Attend the BIO International Convention Super Session, and find out by grabbing this years report.

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Going for the Biotechnology Gold