Anyone interested in exploring better analogies for the drug industry -- better, that is, than Andy Grove's forced comparison to semiconductors -- should just check out Derek Lowe's blog In the Pipeline. In followup items, he's already drawn analogies to Hollywood and oil wildcatting -- neither a half-bad comparison -- and his commenters have taken things even farther. (Such as, for instance, dating, Major League Baseball, and even warfare.) Highly recommended.