Proper name: Interferon beta-1a Type: Multiple sclerosis therapeutic Developer: Serono International SA Location: Geneva, Switzerland Web address: www.serono.com Indication(s): For interferon-specific disease modification in the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis to slow the development of physical disability and to decrease the frequency of exacerbations Approval Date: March 2002 2005 Revenue: $1.27 billion Rebif, a treatment approved for reducing lesions seen on magnetic

Proper name: Oseltamivir Type: Antiviral Developer: Roche Inc. Location: Nutley, New Jersey Web address: www.roche.com Indication(s): For the treatment and prevention of influenza (types A and B) in human beings one year and older. Under production as a preventive and therapeutic medicine for avian bird flu. Approval Date: October 1999 2005 Revenue: $1.22 billion Tamiflu is a neuraminidase protein inhibitor for administering in preventive pre-exposure applications, as well as for the

Proper name: Palivizumab Type: Anti-infective Drug Developer: MedImmune Inc. Location: Gaithersburg, Maryland Website: www.medimmune.com Indication(s): For the prevention of serious lower respiratory tract disease caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in pediatric patients at high risk of RSV disease Approval Date: June 1998 2005 Revenue: $1.06 billion According to the Synagis website, nearly all infants are infected with respiratory syncytial virus by the age of 2. Many of these

Proper name: Darbepoetin alpha Type: Antianemic Drug Developer: Amgen Inc. Location: Thousand Oaks, California Website: www.amgen.com Indication(s): To treat anemia associated with chronic renal failure and to treat chemotherapy-induced anemia in patients with nonmyeloid malignancies Approval Date: September 2001 2005 Revenue: $3.27 billion Chronic renal failure, or kidney failure, is described by the National Institutes of Health's MedlinePlus as "a gradual and progressive loss of the

Proper name: Interferon beta-1a Type: Autoimmune drug Drug Developer: Biogen Idec Inc. Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts Website: www.biogenidec.com Indication(s): Multiple sclerosis Approval Date: May 1996 2005 Revenue: $1.54 billion According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, MS is thought to be an autoimmune disorder that affects the central nervous system (CNS). The nerve fiber in the CNS (consisting of the brain, optic nerves and spinal cord) are protected by myelin, a

Proper name: Etanercept Type: Anti-inflammatory Drug Developer: Amgen Inc. Location: Thousand Oaks, California Website: www.amgen.com Indication(s): To reduce the signs and symptoms of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, moderate to severe polyarticular-course juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Approval Date: November 1998 2005 Revenue: $2.57 billion An estimated 7 million Americans have

Proper name: Epoetin alpha Type: Antianemic Drug Developer: Amgen Inc. Location: Thousand Oaks, California Website: www.amgen.com Indication(s): For the treatment of anemia in patients with chronic renal failure who are on dialysis Approval Date: June 1989 2005 Revenue: $2.46 billion For those with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), options are usually limited to dialysis or a kidney transplant. Dialysis acts essentially as an artificial kidney-removing wastes from blood. In hemodialysis

Proper name: Imatinib mesylate Type: Anticancer Drug Developer: Novartis AG Location: Basel, Switzerland Website: www.novartis.com Indication(s): For the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) and other malignancies Approval Date: May 2001 2005 Revenue: $2.17 billion Chronic myelogenous leukemia s a cancer of the bone marrow that causes rapid growth of myeloid precursors (blood-forming cells). According to the National Institutes of

Proper name: Trastuzumab Type: Anticancer Drug Developer: Genentech Inc. Location: South San Francisco, California Website: www.gene.com Indication(s): For the treatment of metastatic breast cancer Approval Date: September 1998 2005 Revenue: $2.42 billion About 1.6 million women in the U.S. have been diagnosed with breast cancer, and each year, about 180,000 more are diagnosed. According to the website of the Susan G. Komen Foundation, "An estimated 212,920 new cases of breast cancer

What are biotechnology drugs? Biotechnology drugs are those created from using living organisms such as bacteria, yeast or mammalian cell components. Deriving drugs from living sources is not new, inasmuch as history denotes the fact that centuries-old fermentation processes using microorganisms such as fungi have been used to produce antibiotics, and the discovery and application of insulin predates the modern biotechnology industry by a half-century. That said, the novel approaches of

Proper name: Pegfilgrastim Type: Anticancer, anti-infective Manufacturer: Amgen Inc. Location: Thousand Oaks, California Web address: www.amgen.com Indication(s): To decrease the incidence of infection, as manifested by febrile neutropenia, in patients with non-myeloid malignancies receiving myelosuppressive anticancer drugs associated with a clinically significant incidence of febrile neutropenia Approval Date: January 2002 2005 Revenue: $2.29 billion Chemotherapy is effective in cancer

Proper name: Epoetin alpha Type: Antianemic Drug Developer: Ortho Biotech Products LP Location: Bridgewater, New Jersey Website: www.orthobiotech.com Indication(s): Eprex (outside the U.S.): To treat anemia associated with kidney disease by stimulating bone marrow to produce more red blood cells; to treat anemia and reduce the need for a blood transfusion for patients receiving chemotherapy for solid tumors, malignant lymphoma or multiple myeloma; as an alternative to a blood transfusion in

Proper name: Infliximab Type: Anti-inflammatory Drug Developer: Centocor Inc. Location: Malvern, Pennsylvania Website: www.centocor.com Indication(s): For the treatment of moderately to severely active Crohn's disease, reducing the number of draining enterocutaneous and rectovaginal fistulas and maintaining fistula closure in patients with fistulizing Crohn's disease; for the treatment of active ankylosing spondylitis; for reducing signs and symptoms of active arthritis in patients with

Proper name: Rituximab Type: Anticancer, anti-inflammatory Drug Developer: Genentech Inc. Location: South San Francisco, California Website: www.gene.com Indication(s): For the treatment of relapsed or refractory low-grade or follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), slow-growing NHL, aggressive NHL in combination with the chemotherapy drugs cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (CHOP), to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in combination with CHOP or other chemotherapy

Proper name: Docetaxel Type: Anticancer Drug Developer: Sanofi-Aventis Location: Paris, France Website: www.sanofi-aventis.com Indication(s): For the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer after failure of prior anthracycline chemotherapy, locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), first-line therapy in combination with cisplatin for unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC, and hormone-refractory metastatic prostate cancer Approval Date