Almost three weeks into the new year, and company data from the last quarter of 2005 being made public, experts anticipate that 2006 will be a big year for biotechnology.

In the new year, high-profile marriages are expected to accelerate as big pharma and large cap biotechs continue to look to younger innovators to fill their pipelines and provide new sources of revenue as their blockbuster products go off-patent.

Biotech IPOs are also expected to pick up after a relatively poor year in 2005. Steven Burrill, CEO of Burrill & Co., predicts that 30-plus IPOs will get done in the U.S. this year and that the industry will raise more than $35 billion through the public markets and partnering.

This compares to just 17 biotechs getting IPOs done in the U.S. in 2005, most at the lower end of their price ranges. They raised $813 million for the year, a 52 percent drop over 2004. The amount of debt raised in 2005 also declined while venture financing hit $3.5 billion, down from $3.7 billion in 2004, according to Burrill & Co.

Read more predictions for 2006 on drug safety issues, stem-cell research and the prospects of personalized medicine from the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.