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Pharma Warns of Rough 2012
For drugmakers, the golden era of the 1990s and early part of the last decade, when they seemed to effortlessly churn out multibillion-dollar pills for the masses along with double-digit quarterly profit increases, is not even in the rearview mirror any more.
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FDA Approves Janumet XR
Drugmaker Merck & Co Inc. said it received U.S. approval for an extended-release version of its diabetes drug Janumet designed to be taken once a day, instead of twice a day.
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Allergan Sales Boost Profits
Cosmetic drug and device maker Allergan Inc.'s fourth-quarter earnings climbed 6%, as sales for key products like Botox helped balance expense increases.
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Merck Income Tops $1.5B
Drugmaker Merck & Co. swung to a fourth-quarter profit because of lower acquisition and restructuring charges and slightly higher sales.
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AstraZeneca to Cut 7,300 Jobs
Drug maker AstraZeneca PLC said it will cut another 7,300 jobs as it warned of a tough year ahead, due to government spending cuts on healthcare and stiff competition, even as it reported a 24 percent increase in 2011 profits.
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More Headlines
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Ongoing Progress in Cancer Research
 The latest edition of Vital Signs presents research advances in understanding the mechanisms and origins of cancer, developments on treatments, preventions, and cures. The lead article, "Taking a Jab at Cancer", describes how cancer vaccine developers are overcoming scientific challenges and investor resistance.
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The Search for CNS Cures
 Advances in medicine and healthcare are helping people live longer. However, healthcare systems and governments may not be prepared to deal with the medical, economic, and social challenges of an aging population.
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Cancer Research Moves Forward
 While the last few decades have been witness to progress in cancer research, many challenges remain. This edition of Vital Signs reviews new research and new tools that may change the way cancer is diagnosed and treated.
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More Vital Signs
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 Genomics & Proteomics
Safety Through Sequencing
 Great strides have been made in identifying new drug targets and understanding mechanisms of disease. However, the science of drug safety lags behind, and rare toxic reactions torpedo otherwise promising drugs.
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Policy & Projections
Trimming the Fat
 As lawmakers continue to grapple with the nation’s burgeoning federal budget deficit, healthcare spending has moved into the cross-hairs of fiscal and legislative debate.
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Technology Advances
Creating Higher Content
 Whenever possible, drug researchers want one process to quickly reveal a collection of information. This makes high-content screening and analysis increasingly important in drug discovery.
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3D Cell Culture
 TAP Biosystems is launching an improved RAFT System. The system comprises a custom RAFT microwell plate, reagents, plate heater, and protocol for the production of 3D cell cultures in a consistent and reproducible format.
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Protein Variant Libraries
DNA2.0 introduced a complete line of protein variant libraries designed to help researchers better engineer proteins. Libraries are delivered ready for screening to identify variants with improved or altered function.
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Sample Vials
 Researchers tasked with managing a lot of chromatography sample vials in their laboratories may benefit from the 300µL Interlocked R.A.M. vial from J.G. Finneran Associates.
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Flash Chromatography Cartridges
Biotage introduced its SNAP Ultra high-performance flash chromatography cartridges utilizing HP-Sphere spherical silica. Biotage HP-Sphere has 40% more surface area than other flash silica and provides superior separation of eluting compounds.
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Single-step PCR
 G-Biosciences’ 1-Step RT-PCR kit is designed to carry out highly sensitive and specific reverse transcription polymerase chain reactions in a single tube.
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More New Technologies
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FDA Approves Janumet XR
Drugmaker Merck & Co Inc. said it received U.S. approval for an extended-release version of its diabetes drug Janumet designed to be taken once a day, instead of twice a day.
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Regulators Clear STD Test
Roche announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has provided 510(k) clearance to the cobas CT/NG test for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections.
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Lubiprostone Performs Well in Phase 3 Trial
Sucampo Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A. Inc. announced that lubiprostone met the primary endpoint in a Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of opioid-induced bowel dysfunction in patients with chronic, non-cancer pain.
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More Drug Pipeline
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Updated Fall 2011 Edition:
When looking for the most promising leads, or compounds worth developing, drug researchers always seek new tools and techniques that enhance the odds of finding a marketable compound as soon as possible.
A wide variety of new oncology targets continue to be identified, many through investigations into the tumor microenvironment associated with solid tumors and tumor stem cell characteristics.
With the FDA cracking down on manufacturing irregularities, stricter provisions to the Physician Payment Sunshine Act being discussed, and Congress looking for a way out its budget troubles; the congeniality between regulators and the biopharmaceutical industry is slipping away.
Fluxion Biosciences offers F1 giga-ohm seal plates for the IonFlux automated patch clamp system.
The xCELLigence RTCA HT by Roche Applied Science is an addition to the xCELLigence family of label-free cell monitoring systems.
Applied Scientific Instrumentation’s Crisp system senses changes between the objective lens and the specimen’s cover slip, and provides a feedback signal to focus controllers.
