Big Pharma

Drug companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year to influence doctors' prescribing habits -- money that often goes directly into physicians' pockets for "consulting fees" and "educational presentations." Wondering if your doc is one of them? The nonprofit journalists at ProPublica can tell you.

Officially, it's the FDA's job to ensure that pharmaceutical ads adhere to guidelines. But the agency's annual compliance budget is $9 million, while drug companies spend $58 billion a year on marketing. So it comes as no surprise that only 18% of ads are in compliance with the rules. But it's still disturbing: This is your health.

French drug company Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) has finally made a deal to buy biotech company Genzyme (GENZ) for $20.1 billion, about $74 a share. Genzyme shareholders will get a contingent value right that represents potential future payments if Lemtrada, the company's multiple sclerosis drug, is a...

From October 2010 to February 2011, biotech Clinical Data's stock doubled, mostly thanks to FDA approval of its novel antidepressant. But also pushing the stock up -- and making it likely to perhaps double again -- is speculation that a Big Pharma will buy Clinical Data.

Diabetes is a growing global scourge, but for Big Pharma it's more of a lifesaver -- and many drugmakers are cranking up their research efforts. After all, many existing drugs will soon be losing their patents, and diabetes could be a $55 billion market by 2019.

If gasoline or jobs or milk were in short supply, we'd all know about it. But unknown to most Americans, the country is now in the grips of a life-threatening drug shortage. Medical professionals are quite aware of it, however, and they're deeply concerned.

Mergers, acquisitions and major restructurings made Big Pharma a much smaller and leaner sector, with some 54,000 jobs lost. At least that's better than 2009's 61,000 layoffs.

If you've experienced sticker shock at the pharmacy and wondered why drug prices are always rising, even for generics, consider the value of salt. Baxter International, which sells drugs to health care providers and pharmacies, billed Medicaid $928 for $1.71 worth of saline solution -- a 54,000%...

At a recent life-sciences conference in Stockholm, execs of several U.S. and foreign biotechs clashed with Big Pharma in a lively debate on the merits of their respective goals and products. The result, however, was a stand-off.

While a new report from Goldman Sachs says health care is in a state of flux that most of the sector's companies haven't adjusted to yet, it also pinpoints four that have plenty of cash that could be put to good use for investors.