There's way too much stuff out of ASCO to do a comprehensive blog entry that would satisfy readers--especially small-cap biotechies. I mean, there are literally thousands of pages of research being published today by analysts on the new data.    Read More

I like to think I have a nose for news. And, some might say, too much of a penchant for puns and alliteration. Impotence drug profits won't be going up big pharma's nose. The tiny New Jersey-based biotech company Palatin Technologies says it's giving up on its experimental nasal spray for erectile dysfunction.    Read More

I realize it's become a bit of a tired tagline, but through the magic of live webcasts what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas. This morning Dendreon was first at bat at the Bank of America Healthcare Conference in Sin City.    Read More

Occasionally -- when the bosses will let me -- I take a day to network, learn and maybe pick up a story idea by attending a biotech or healthcare investment conference. Many firms put on the events for their clients and they often invite reporters to hang out. ... The PR guy told me a couple of sessions during the day would be "closed" to me. It wasn't clear what the closed sessions were all about, and so my curiousity was piqued...   Read More

After the closing bell yesterday, Merck announced that it plans to get rid of 12-hundred or around 15 percent of its sales reps. Like Schering-Plough, the company is having to adjust to lower sales of its Vytorin and Zetia cholesterol drugs and on top of that the Food and Drug...   Read More

While thumbing through “Parade” magazine yesterday, the fluffy publication that you find tucked inside some Sunday newspapers, I noticed an ad for Pfizer’s stop-smoking drug Chantix. It caught my eye because the company had stopped doing what’s called “branded” advertising for the pill earlier this year because of new safety concerns...    Read More

I didn't post yesterday because I was in Philadelphia shooting a story for an upcoming episode of "The Business of Innovation" on CNBC. It's a piece about big pharma and we went to Philly to interview the still very busy former CEO of Merck (two CEOs ago), Dr. Roy Vagelos.    Read More

Investors are finding no solace in Merck's reaffirmation that it'll still hit its earnings numbers this year. Instead they're punishing the stock after the company announced what everyone is calling a surprise and a significant setback.    Read More

It's a big day for pipeline progress...or not. Late Friday, Merck and Schering-Plough announced that the Food and Drug Administration won't approve their combo Claritin-Singulair combo pill for allergies.    Read More

The morning after Amgen reported its first quarter earnings my inbox runneth over with analyst research reports on the biotech behemoth. The company beat the Street by eight cents a share. But the focus remains on the anemia drug franchise.    Read More