research and development

SAP showed healthy revenue growth in its recently announced first quarter earnings, but operating profits increased by far less. Why? Because the company is putting more money into operating expenses and R&D, which sets it up for bigger profits in the longer term.

On Monday, Pfizer announced it would sell its Capsugel business to private-equity firm KKR for $2.375 billion. If the hints the drugmaker has been giving lately are true, the move could be the start of two years of major asset sales. Here's what's ahead for the world's biggest pharmaceutical company.

Google has been dead money for the last year -- up just 3% vs. 12.6% for the S&P 500. The Internet giant's biggest problem is its inability to diversify its revenue sources. Author Peter Cohan pulls out his Innovation Quotient to suggest how new CEO Larry Page might correct that.

In an update Tuesday, Pfizer said it is discontinuing 15 of the projects in its development pipeline. The news comes a month after the world's largest pharmaceutical company announced large research and development cuts were on the way.

The pharmaceutical industry is ready to fall off a cliff -- a "patent cliff." Over the next few years, some of the world's most popular and lucrative medicines will go off patent, and generic competition will siphon an estimated quarter of a trillion dollars from drugmakers' bottom lines.

Pfizer reported fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday that nearly quadrupled from a year ago as revenue rose 6%. But it also lowered its sales guidance for 2012, due to some of its bestselling drugs going off patent. What's ahead for the world's biggest drugmaker:

Lpath focuses on developing therapeutics that target bioactive lipids for treating a range of human diseases, including cancer and diseases that cause blindness. Its promising drugs have attracted attention -- and lots of money -- from Pfizer. More of both could be coming.

Aside from the embarrassment, researchers know deceptions like the autism research fraud can have much larger consequences, both for the parents of autistic children and for the future of their studies. Says one prominent scientist: "It taints a lot of very good work that goes on."

Teaming with Massachusetts General Hospital and others, J&J's Veridex is developing a novel method of isolating cancer cells from a patient's bloodstream. If successful, the blood test could ultimately replace more invasive and painful ones such as biopsies.

Prestigious management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. just published Value: The Four Cornerstones of Corporate Finance, a guide to help executives create shareholder value. Lead author Tim Koller shares his thoughts with DailyFinance about how the book might also help investors profit.