23andMe: Will the personal-genomics company need Big Pharma to make money?
23andMe held its official launch today, as expected, and in the process managed to address a few of the nagging questions that remained after I reviewed its service over the weekend. “Addressed” is definitely the operative word here, though, because firm answers are still in… Continue Reading
Big Pharma’s personalized-medicine consortium: Is it for real?
Medical treatment that’s tailored to your individual genetic profile — “personalized medicine,” for short — has been a long, long time in coming, as I’ve noted here and here. Part of the reason, of course, is that personalizing medicine cuts against the economic interests of… Continue Reading
Is Big Pharma down for the count?
Between the sweeping job cuts across Big Pharma, falling stock prices, stalled drug approvals, safety problems with drugs like Avandia and an expected avalanche of generic competitors to billion-dollar brand-name drugs, it’s certainly starting to look like the traditional drug industry’s best days are behind… Continue Reading
How drug reps do that thing they do
Two fascinating papers in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine turn a spotlight on the practice of “detailing” — the office visits that drug-industry salespeople use to flatter and manipulate their way into the good graces of the doctors they want to influence.
The first and most eye-opening… Continue Reading
Patent fight: Tech vs. pharma, round one
A long-awaited struggle over patent reform appears to be upon us, the Washington Post reports today (hat tip to the WSJ’s Health Blog). It pits the tech industry against pharmaceutical/biotech companies over intellectual property protections that, depending on where you stand, are either largely a… Continue Reading
Patent fight: Tech vs. pharma, round one
(Note: This item has been copied over to the Life Sciences page from its original location on the VentureBeat main page. To view it in its original context, with comments, click here.)
A long-awaited struggle over patent reform appears to be upon us, the Washington Post… Continue Reading
Is Big Pharma tiptoeing into embryonic stem cells?
(Note: This item has been copied over to the Life Sciences page from its original location on the VentureBeat main page. To view it in its original context, with comments, click here.)
For what appears to be the first time, a major drug company has plunked… Continue Reading
Is Big Pharma tiptoeing into embryonic stem cells?
For what appears to be the first time, a major drug company has plunked down a significant equity investment in embryonic stem cells.
Earlier today, VentureWire reported (sub required) that Novocell, an early-stage San Diego biotech that aims to treat diabetes with the embryonic cells, is… Continue Reading