The Life Sciences in New York State

Polypharmacy...a problem that keeps getting worse

This is correct. Multiple diseases are being treated by multiple doctors writing multiple prescriptions being filled (and this is key) at multiple pharmacies. Nobody can keep track of all this.

The ‘Poisonous Cocktail’ of Multiple Drugs

In addition to seeing several doctors, many older people use multiple pharmacies to buy prescriptions. There may be no single health professional who knows what they are taking and could alert them to dangerous combinations. This is especially true in places where chain stores have replaced independent pharmacies or when the patient’s drug plan requires that medications be ordered by mail.

First Albany...RIP

It's a shame...I would have kept the name.

First Albany Companies, to Be Renamed Broadpoint, Announces Shareholder Approval and Closing of $50 Million Equity Investment from MatlinPatterson

First Albany Companies Inc. (NASDAQ: FACT), to be renamed Broadpoint Securities Group, Inc., today announced the approval by shareholders and closing of a $50 million equity investment from an affiliate of MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities Partners II. This investment provides the Company with additional resources to grow its business, focus on its core investment products and services strengths, provide incentives to its employees, and better meet the needs of its clients.

Don't plant that extra corn quite yet

I've seen a few stories saying the same thing. Interesting, if true.

Rapeseed biofuel ‘produces more greenhouse gas than oil or petrol’

A renewable energy source designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is contributing more to global warming than fossil fuels, a study suggests. Measurements of emissions from the burning of biofuels derived from rapeseed and maize have been found to produce more greenhouse gas emissions than they save.

Pfizer suddenly discovers biotech

Normally a story like this would be greeted with a yawn. However, with Pfizer, they have suffered the double whammy of Lipitor's impending genericization and the failure of torcetrapib. So to make Wall Street happy, they announce their new willingness to be more of a biotech company.

I've never bought into this argument that pharma and biotech - which I define as parenteral peptides and proteins - are so different. Yes we're talking about different ways to manufacture and deliver these drugs. But at the end of the day, it's about having an organization that can develop and commercialize an innovative product.

Lipitor was the fifth statin to market, with a marginally better efficacy profile versus competitors. Yet Lipitor is a $9 billion product. Compare this with Exubera, which is by all accounts a flop. My point here is that if Pfizer gets their hands (likely through major acquisition) on an innovative "biotech" product, they will likely succeed with it. Hence, the last sentence in the quote below is key.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were an army of analysts at Pfizer HQ on 42nd Street analyzing M&A opportunities. Pfizer will acquire the successful developer, then use their proven skills to successfully commercialize any "biotech" product they acquire.



Pfizer's future rests with biotech

Pfizer has already announced a plan to invest $10 million a year for the next five years to help start-up biotechs in San Diego. Expect to see Pfizer snapping up biologics from smaller drug developers and investing more money in biotech companies in the months and years to come.

Failure is about to become an option in China

I find it quite interesting that Chinese legislators are now beginning to recognize the inherent value in failure. I've had more than one scientist tell me that there is no such thing as "failure" in the scientific method. Every experiment, whether successful or not, is an opportunity to learn something new.


Chinese scientists given freedom to fail

Research, especially within the pharmaceutical industry, is as dependent on failure as it is on success. Far more potential drugs fail than succeed and for each one that is left by the wayside, lessons can be learned to improve the chances of another molecule making it to market.

However, there is currently a great deal of pressure on Chinese scientists to only report successes and the science and technology minister, Wan Gang, is said to have told lawmakers that this is hampering innovation by preventing researchers taking risks.

"It's difficult to make achievements in independent innovation if the scientific research departments and scientists don't tolerate failure," Bai Chunli, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), was quoted as saying.

There have also been several cases where scientists have falsified or stolen results - something academics blame on the highly pressurised research environment.