Someone in pain will spend money to ease it. Nobody knows that better than a pharmaceuticals executive. Now, as big drugs manufacturers agonise over their potentially life-shortening lack of future products, they are strengthening their relationship with the sector that has become best placed to offer relief.

Biotechnology companies are attracting fresh capital and concluding deals as their larger brethren?s appetite for innovation grows. In the closing days of 2005, three deals from AstraZeneca, the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant, underlined the trend. Earlier in the year Pfizer, the industry leader, had spent $1.9bn (?1.1bn, ?1.6bn) to buy Vicuron, known for its anti-infective treatments. This week, as the pharmaceutical world gathered for JPMorgan?s healthcare conference in San Francisco, there was a palpable sense of excitement about the industry?s new-found potential.