The US biotechnology industry raised 85% more money in 2009 than it did in 2008, according to figures released by venture-capital firm Burrill & Company in San Francisco, California. US biotechs raised $55.9 billion in 2009 through public and private financing and partnerships. The firm reports that private venture-capital financing for US biotechs in 2009 came to $4.07 billion, down by 2.6% from 2008. But partnerships, in which pharmaceutical companies pay biotechs to develop a product, jumped by 84% to almost $37 billion. Chief executive Steven Burrill says that companies that use a variety of ways to raise capital are the ones likely to be the most successful.