What Global Financial Crisis? Capital Markets Back Biotechs
It is that time of year again when we take the pulse of the industry at the close of the third quarter. Overall we find that it is performing well, more so for public biotechs than private ones. Despite the…
A Modest Proposal to the IgNobel Committee
I always love reading about the IgNobel Prizes. The stated goal of the prize is to reward research that “first makes people laugh, and then makes them think.” And this year’s crop of winners once again succeeds at those tasks….
‘Final Chapter’ on XMRV? Good Luck With That One
Viruses are on the border between living and dead. So are the theories about what some of them cause. Two studies were published last week that showed no link between xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) and either chronic fatigue…
Life Isn’t as Sweet as it May Seem in Biotech’s C-Suites
Biotechnology is an idiosyncratic industry in which some executives can stake their careers on the pursuit of orphan drugs that, at best, will offer only limited opportunity for corporate profits and investors returns, while addressing the usually unmet needs of…
Grappling with the Ethics
With science boldly taking us where we’ve never gone before, we’re exploring new worlds and stretching the boundaries of our universe. While these are exciting times for the adventurer in us, they can be discomfiting for our inner ethicist. From…
Where’s Rube Goldberg When You Need Him?
What’s the difference between Congress and a Rube Goldberg contraption? They both use convoluted processes to accomplish a simple task, but the Goldberg invention still manages to keep the end result pretty simple. And while there may be some unintended…
Is it Better to Forgive and Pharm-merge?
Aug. 5 was International Forgiveness Day, and the founding organization of this annual effort, Worldwide Forgiveness Alliance (WFA), says in its mission statement that a goal is to promote and publicize the research findings that show forgiveness creates better health,…
The Pharm-eleon is Shedding its Pharma-saurus Skin Again
If the big pharmas are indeed dinosaurs, they have learned to do what their predecessors could not: survive! Pharma may be prehistoric in terms of age compared to biotech, but it maneuvers more like a velociraptor than lumbering brontosaurus, as…
Caught in Its Own Snare
A hunter walks into a bar and says, “Did you hear the one about the FDA?” “You mean the time it shot itself in the foot?” the bartender responds. “The left foot or the right foot?” another hunter asks, wiping…
Venter, Watson Warm Up for Clash of the Titans
DUBLIN ‑ Europe’s biggest scientific carnival is pitching its tent beside the River Liffey this week. Dublin is playing host to the Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) 2012 meeting and, thereby, assumes the mantle of Europe’s City of Science for the…
