The Neuer Markt's fall from grace is more than a reflection of the global market slump. Having soared faster and higher than most other markets, Germany's growth exchange is now suffering the worst. And its recovery is likely to take longer.

For more than a year, VCs have backed away from the proteomics tools group--drug companies hadn't signed the expected number and value of deals with them, and it was deal revenues that were, according to most business plans, going to support these start-ups. That pharma and biotech companies have a bigger appetite for products than for platform technology has become a truism. Licensors increasingly are finding that they must offer partners more than a discovery technology platform-either by validating targets and building value before out-licensing, or at least having the biological capability in-house to be a true collaborator.

Cambridge Antibody Technology PLC's January £55 million share-for-share offer for Drug Royalty demonstrates not only CAT's growth in the last decade but also a willingness by biotech companies to indulge in a little creative financing. The move will help CAT reduce its cash burn and ratchet up its R&D spending at a time when the pace of more traditional methods of raising cash remains sluggish. And not least important, the deal illustrates how a transparent financing transaction to improve biotech P&L can be a straightforward alternative to today's obfuscating accounting practices which, in the current climate, look disturbingly Enronian.