School Gives 16-Year-Olds $100,000 to Invest
Lots of high schools have clubs that participate in stock market simulation games. The Greenhill School, a small private school in Dallas, is letting its club use real money.
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Move Over, Apple: 16 More U.S. Firms Stash Billions Overseas
Apple is under fire for keeping billions in profits overseas, where it doesn't have to pay U.S. taxes, but Apple is hardly the only big company dodging the IRS this way.
The Problem with Fast-Tracking Drug Approvals: Pharmas Fail to Follow Up
To get potentially lifesaving drugs to patients faster, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is allowed to approve some drugs -- those that address unmet medical needs -- based on fewer trials than usual. But it turns out that many of the pharmaceutical companies fail to conduct follow-up trials to prove the drugs work.
Osteoporosis Drug Approved for Cancer Patients
The FDA has approved Amgen's osteoporosis drug denosumab for use by cancer patients with solid tumors whose disease has metastasized to their bones. The indication to prevent complications such as fractures and bone pain among those patients could boost the drug's sales by billions.
How to Approve 'Biosimilar' Drugs? The FDA Has to Figure That Out
Unlike generics, which are the exact chemical copies of a brand-name drug, biosimilars have large and often complex proteins that are made in living cells, and tiny differences can play havoc with the product. It may take years for the FDA to create an approval process.
Amgen, J&J Recall Procrit, Epogen for Possible Glass Issue
Drug-makers Amgen and Johnson & Johnson are voluntarily recalling two brands of an injectable anemia medication because of the possibility that vials of it may also contain tiny glass flakes. The drug, Epoetin alfa, is marketed under the brand names Epogen and Procrit.
Atlantic Media: On a Roll and More to Come
It's a busy time at Atlantic Media. Among President Justin Smith's initiatives are new iPad apps for The Atlantic magazine and a paid version for all Atlantic content. Plus, a total overhaul of National Journal. They're all possible because The Atlantic is set to be profitable again.
Deutsche Bank Initiates Coverage of Biotech Stocks
Several biotech stocks were on the move Monday after Deutsche Bank started rating them. The bank's analyst, Robyn Karnauskas, took a generally wary view on the biotech sector, putting buy ratings only on Gilead and Dendreon.
Health Care Stocks: Winners and Losers
As hyperactive and reactive as markets can be, sometimes they get it right. Witness Monday's relief rally after the House voted to overhaul health insurance. The major averages enjoyed vigorous gains, led for much of the session by, yes, the health care sector.
Amgen's New Bone Drug Passes a Crucial Test
Much of the biotech's future rests on the experimental bone drug denosumab, to be sold commercially as Prolia. The drug has had its ups and downs, but Amgen says a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial pitting denosumab against Novartis's Zometa showed that denosumab worked better.
Marketing Fines: A Cost of Business for Pharma?
The FDA has nearly doubled the warning letters it's sent to drugmakers for questionable promotion in the past year. But some critics say the fines don't go far enough, and that Big Pharma merely views the penalties as the price of doing business.
2010 Could Be Big for Small Biotechs
Biotech stocks surprised in 2009 by surging. Equally surprising was the robust performance of the young and small-cap crowd of mostly development-stage companies, which trumped their large-cap brethren. That pattern could prevail again this year.
Eli Lilly Reports Strong Results; Investors Still Worried about Future
Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY), the pharmaceutical company behind antidepressant medication Prozac and erectile dysfunction drug Cialis, reported strong sales in the fourth quarter, as expected.
Amgen Misses Street's Expectations
Amgen, the world's largest biotechnology company, reported fourth-quarter results that missed Wall Street's expectations, as a 2% increase in sales failed to translate into a stronger bottom line.
Health-Care Sector Appears to Rally As Reform Chances Dim
President Obama can't be pleased by the loss of a Democratic Senate seat which jeopardizes passage of his cherished health-care reform. The news, however, appears to have fueled a mini stock rally in the health-care and pharma sectors wary of how any reform would affect their businesses. The uptrend is expected to continue.
Pfizer Pushes into Biotech Generics
Pfizer may be hatching plans to sell "biosimilars," cheaper versions of biotech medicines, of drugs developed by the world's largest independent biotech Amgen. That's causing concern not just at Amgen, but at other biotechs that fear such competition.
