PharmaWeek |Dec 3| A Q&A with Dana-Farber pediatric oncologist Alan d'Andrea on his business venture, The DNA Repair Company (DNAR).

The Economist |Nov 27| A study published this week in PLoS Medicine, an online journal, confirms what many have suspected and what previous studies have hinted at: drug companies try to spin the results of clinical trials.

Time |Nov 28| The pharmaceutical industry is one of the few sectors around that appears to be weathering these difficult times with relative ease. Last Friday, the European Commission suggested why that might be: it claims Big Pharma systematically rigged the market to squeeze out copycat medicines.

PharmaTimes |Dec 1| European Commission investigators will carry out more dawn raids on pharmaceutical manufacturers, and both originator and generics companies will need to review the way they do business to ensure they do not become the subject of antitrust litigation, leading experts have warned.

Forbes |Nov 24| Genentech’s key revenue driver, the blockbuster drug Avastin, improved the survival time for breast cancer patients in a late-stage study, putting the drug closer to full regulatory approval to treat the condition.

Bloomberg |Nov 26| A gene-based test can predict how patients will respond to treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

BusinessWeek |Dec 1| S&P equity analysts examine the ramifications for the industry of potential policy moves by the new administration.

Straits Times |Nov 24| Foreign drug companies can quit Indonesia if they do not like new rules requiring them to have local production facilities, according to Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari. The rules, which have drawn protests from the US Chamber of Commerce, affect 13 international pharma companies, including Lilly, Roche, and AstraZeneca.

MarketWatch |Nov 24| The National Comprehensive Cancer Network has received funding from BMS and ImClone for a multi-institutional investigation into the use of cetuximab for bladder cancer, the fifth most common type in the US.

New York Times |Nov 24| A group of advocates, including medical researchers, medical societies and insurers, is lobbying Congress to pay for an Institute for Comparative Effectiveness Research that would assess treatments and identify gaps in evidence. When there are gaps, the institute would initiate what are being called “real world,” or “pragmatic,” clinical research trials to gather the evidence.

Associated Press  |Nov 26| Dozens of ALS patients are testing treatments on their own without waiting on the slow pace of medical research. They are part of an emerging group of patients willing to share intimate health details on the Web in hopes of making their own medical discoveries.

Bloomberg |Dec 1| Israel’s largest drug company turned itself into the world’s biggest maker of generic medicines through a high-risk strategy of flouting drug patents. Its next target may be Lilly’s Evista, for osteoporosis.

CNN Money |Dec 1| The healthcare giant faces a steep patent cliff - but it has the cash to bridge it.

Bloomberg |Dec 1| Chris Viehbacher is now top man at Sanofi-Aventis, taking over from Gerard le Fur, who was ousted in September after the company faced issues with both Acomplia and Plavix.

Bio-IT World |Dec 2| Just a few weeks after closing its Seattle facility, Merck announced on Tuesday that Rupert Vessey, the former Seattle site head, will become the head of basic research at Merck Research Laboratories in Boston, replacing Lex Van der Ploeg, who is retiring.

|November 19| A Q&A with the president and CEO of BIO, James Greenwood, on some of his hopes for pharma/industry under Obama's administration.