Under pressure to reap return on investment, companies are seeking ways to ensure success in designing drug tests This past July, Synergen Inc. suspended clinical trials of its anti-inflammatory drug candidate, Antril--being tested to fight sepsis--for lack of efficacy. Faced with the setback to its $100 million-plus investment, the Boulder, Colo.-based biotech was forced to lay off more than half its work force and shut down two

Under pressure to reap return on investment, companies are seeking ways to ensure success in designing drug tests This past July, Synergen Inc. suspended clinical trials of its anti-inflammatory drug candidate, Antril--being tested to fight sepsis--for lack of efficacy. Faced with the setback to its $100 million-plus investment, the Boulder, Colo.-based biotech was forced to lay off more than half its work force and shut down two

With health-care reform proposals threatening financial prospects, firms are shelving projects laying off researchers The biotech industry is marshaling its forces for what many of its executives view as the political fight of its life. Financial analysts and other observers agree with the executives, saying that the industry faces financial threats posed by various mechanisms in President Clinton's health plan designed to influenc

With health-care reform proposals threatening financial prospects, firms are shelving projects laying off researchers The biotech industry is marshaling its forces for what many of its executives view as the political fight of its life. Financial analysts and other observers agree with the executives, saying that the industry faces financial threats posed by various mechanisms in President Clinton's health plan designed to influenc

With projects on hold and downsizings, mergers, and acquisitions on rise, only firms with products in clinical trials can progress Among the myriad issues confronting the biotech industry in 1994, the most pressing problem companies will face is a lack of adequate financing, say industry observers. Fueled by concerns over potential drug-pricing controls related to national health care reform and two highly publicized biotech prod

JUST HOW EFFECTIVE ARE THE SCIENCE AND MATH MAGNET SCHOOLS? Author: Susan L-J Dickinson A 1990 study conducted by the North Carolina School of Science and Math (NCSSM) on the occasion of its 10th anniversary covered some 900 alumni from the school's first eight classes (1982-1989), and revealed the following statistics: * 99 percent of NCSSM students attended or were attending four-year colleges, vs. 58 percent of all students nationally and 39 percent in the state of North Car

Advice From the Pros: Stick to the Basics Author: Susan L-J Dickinson (The Scientist, Vol:5, #3, pg. 6, February 4, 1991) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) -------- While some external parameters-the economy, sources of seed financing, geographic foci of technology-based companies-may be shifting and somewhat unknown, analysis, financiers, and experienced businesspeople voice a clear and unanimous message to aspiring entrepreneurs hoping to start a company in the 1990s: Stick to

The promise of profit in neurobiology is exciting the neurons of venture capitalists all over the country (see accompanying story). It’s also stimulating gray matter at the stoic nerve centers of the pharmaceutical giants. Although they may be loathe to admit it, beneath the traditionally calm exterior at these companies, synapses—and scientists—are jumping. Some of the large companies, of course, have been searching for drugs that affect the central nervous system for years