In platform-technology companies, the primary bet is on a specific technology and its associated patents. If it works, it can be spread across many commercial opportunities.
Genomics is the most familiar example.
Within a few short years, almost all drugs that reach the market will have undergone a full analysis of which genes they turn on and off, and in which patients the activity occurs. Moreover, the vast majority of new drugs by 2010 are likely to target disease pathways identified by functional genomics and individual human gene variations known as single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs. Many of today's drugs will likely be obsolete. With Celera projecting that its sequencing of the entire human genome will be complete this year, the genomic revolution has become tangible - and this is only the beginning. The year 2000 should see an acceleration of new genomic discoveries and associated pharmaceutical deals and database subscriptions.