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Archive for February, 2009

Merger mania: It’s fun theater, but will it bomb?

Friday, February 27th, 2009

I can see it now, the pharmaceutical industry will be the next big fad in reality television. A match made in Hollywood heaven if you ask me. In todayâ€™s M&A climate, wouldnâ€™t shows like â€œExtreme Takeoverâ€ orÂ â€œDancing with the Pfizersâ€ make for some riveting theater? I think so. Put ...

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Maple leaf special on patient recruitment

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

The benefits of the Canadian biotechnology market may have you asking why not Canada? Canada has over 500 biotechnology companies, more per capita than any other country and offers the most cost-competitive business environment in the Group of Seven (G7). Canadian biotechnology companies invest about $1.7 billion in research and development ...

Posted in CRO, Uncategorized | No Comments »

ACRO: U.S. trial participation stinks

Friday, February 20th, 2009

The Association of Clinical Research Organizations, known for short as ACRO, responded today to Thursdayâ€™s somewhat scathing article in The New England Journal of Medicine which brought up serious concerns about the ethics and science of American companies increasingly conducting clinical drug trials in developing countries. ACRO, in aÂ released comment, ...

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Old MacDonald’s Pharma: Part 2

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

Goats are not the only animals being used to develop new drugs. As The Wall Street JournalÂ reported on Tuesday, llamas are being used to discover treatments for diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, and Alzheimerâ€™s disease. These pack animals and their relatives- camels and alpacas, naturally create very small antibodies ...

Posted in animals, antibodies, cancer | 1 Comment »

Matters of the heart

Friday, February 13th, 2009

Who says thereâ€™s no love these days in pharma land? Itâ€™s Valentineâ€™s Day tomorrow (whoops! I need to call the florist â€“ just joking, honey!), and for four drug giants, in particular, when it comes to matters of the heart therapy variety, Cupid struck a little early this year. Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis, ...

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Old MacDonaldâ€™s Pharma

Monday, February 9th, 2009

The ads say milk does a body good, but what about goats milk? It does if you have a history of blood clots. In a scientific first, GTC Biotherapeutics has changed the genes of goats to produce milk rich in antithrombin, a protein that acts as a natural blood thinner in ...

Posted in animals, transgenics | 2 Comments »

The power of positive recruitment

Friday, February 6th, 2009

With patient recruitment woes contributing to almost half of all clinical trial delays, we thought today we would pass along some positive news in this area. After all, the weekend is upon us, and temperatures, at least in the R&D Directions suburbs, are expected to finally, mercifully climb above freezing. ...

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Putting a fresh face on Botox

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

Did you catch that promo for â€œCelebrity Apprenticeâ€ during the Super Bowl? For me, it immediately brought two things to mind â€“ one, will Dennis Rodman and Scott Hamilton conspire to get Andrew Dice Clay â€œfired?â€ and, two, Joan Rivers' face, at least in high definition, is pulled tighter than ...

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