Many industries complain that new government regulations are bad for business; now, we're hearing it from the adult film biz. A proposed L.A. city regulation to require porn actors to use condoms has adult film makers threatening to leave Tinseltown -- and to take the lion's share of an $8 billion-a-year industry with them.
The majority of gold demand these days goes to jewelry and investors, but the precious metal is good for more than looking pretty and providing a hard asset: Industrial and technological uses for gold are growing.
Pharmaceuticals are facing big patent cliff problems this year, but several biotechnology stocks have been doing quite well: Their biologic drugs command high prices, tend become blockbusters, and they are in far less danger from generic competition. Here are the big winners so far this year.
Two trends have emerged from the 2010 International AIDS Conference taking place in Vienna: Science has made great strides to combat the disease, but global demand for drug therapies exceeds the funding available to pay for them.
As the world hopes for an HIV vaccine following recent positive developments, a new study in South Africa shows that a vaginal gel made using Gilead Sciences' AIDS drug Viread cut HIV infections in women by as much as 50%.
The NIH says the two naturally occurring, powerful antibodies came from an HIV-infected individual. Scientists found these antibodies not only neutralize more HIV strains, but do so with greater strength than previously known antibodies.
A Merck-licensed drug to fight a bacteria blamed for increasing rates of deadly diarrhea in hospitals and nursing homes was found to cut repeat infections by 72%. The drug reduces the risk of re-infection by the bug and its more virulent new strain more than in patients taking only antibiotics.
He's young, charismatic, innovative and has got heart. At least that's the impression GlaxoSmithKline CEO Andrew Witty gives to the outside world. GSK is allowing free access to its library of 13,500 potential malaria treatments. Is he genuinely a do-gooder or just good at PR?
The porn business is going to keep its elbow room. A petition by an AIDS advocacy group to require that adult film companies use condoms when shooting movies has been denied by a Los Angeles judge.
