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Forbes.com: FDA big factor behind high US drug costs-economist
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, with its costly and time-consuming drug approval process, is a big reason Americans pay far more for medicine than consumers in the rest of the world, U.S. Nobel laureate Milton Friedman said Tuesday.

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F.D.A. Begins Push to End Drug Imports
A second ‘blitz’ inspection by federal drug and customs officials of medicines imported from Canada has found that nearly all of the almost 2,000 packages opened contained foreign versions of American pharmaceuticals that officials said might not be safe.

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What To Expect From A Venture Capitalist
The more important question is, ‘What can I expect out of a good venture capitalist?’ The answer to this is: five hours per month of mindshare during which he opens doors for you with prospective customers and partners and interviews candidates for high-level positions at your company.

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Is ImClone Out of the Woods?
If the FDA approves its Erbitux anticancer treatment, as S&P expects, the biotech’s volatile stock should be set for solid growth

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What’s in a Drug Name?
Did you ever wonder at the bizarre brand names born by your favorite medicines? If so, you’ve probably guessed brand-name rule No. 1: They don’t actually mean anything.

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Rise in biotech lawsuits
Biotech companies were served with 17 percent of all U.S. shareholder suits last year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Securities Litigation Study of 2003.
By contrast, biotech’s estimated 350 public companies make up only 2 percent of the approximately 17,000 firms publicly traded in the United States.

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Agriculture Department looks at revamping biotech rules
Worried about the inadvertent spread of new bioengineered plants that produce drugs and chemicals, the Agriculture Department is studying whether to adopt a risk-based system to protect the environment and food supply.

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Making Way for Designer Insects
The insect world could shortly undergo a genetic makeover in the laboratory. Scientists are at work developing silkworms that produce pharmaceuticals instead of silk, honeybees resilient enough to resist pesticides and even mosquitoes capable of delivering vaccines, instead of disease, with every bite.

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Biotech firms urge Canada to uphold canola patent
Representatives for scientists and biotech firms warned Tuesday that companies could abandon Canada unless the Supreme Court upholds a patent for canola that has been modified to resist a certain type of weedkiller.

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Biotech Limits Found Lacking
Techniques for limiting the spread of genetically engineered salmon, corn and other organisms are still in their infancy, and far more work needs to be done to make sure the new products don’t taint the food supply or wipe out important species, a National Research Council panel said yesterday.