Right To Try Act Poses Big Challenge For FDA
Legislation that would give terminally ill people a direct path to get experimental treatments raises questions about how the Food and Drug Administration would safeguard patients.
biotechnology
Advocates For Patients With Rare Diseases Defend Tax Credits For Orphan Drugs
The Republican tax plan could reduce or eliminate federal tax credits that reward companies for developing drugs to treat rare diseases. People who benefit from the medicines have objected.
House Republicans Aim To Eliminate Tax Credits For Orphan Drugs
For more than three decades, pharmaceutical companies have claimed a 50 percent tax credit for the cost of clinical trials of drugs for rare diseases. The credit is now in jeopardy.
Spies In The Field: As Farming Goes High-Tech, Espionage Threat Grows
Recent cases involving Chinese nationals conspiring to steal trade secrets — from gene-spliced rice to corn seed — have highlighted the risk of intellectual property theft from U.S. companies.
GAO Will Investigate Skyrocketing Prices For Orphan Drugs
The Orphan Drug Act was created to help patients with rare diseases get life-saving medications. But soaring prices suggest the law is being manipulated to increase profits.
Drugs For Rare Diseases Have Become Uncommonly Rich Monopolies
Drugmakers have brought almost 450 orphan drugs to market and collected rich incentives by doing so. But nearly a third of the medicines aren't new or were repurposed many times for financial gain.
WATCH: Mantis Shrimp's Incredible Eyesight Yields Clues For Detecting Cancer
Cancer cells, it turns out, reflect light in a particular, polarized way that mantis shrimp can see. A tiny camera based on the shrimp's eye might help doctors better visualize tumors during surgery.
Science Rewards Eureka Moments, Except When It Doesn't
An easier way to edit genes, called CRISPR-Cas9, is revolutionizing biomedical research. But as patents and big prizes hover, some contributors to the discovery aren't getting much credit.
Flawed Research Tool Leads To Faulty Medical Findings
Just as natural antibodies help your body find and fight microbial invaders, tailored research antibodies let scientists target and study cancer cells. But too many are poorly made, scientists say.
FDA-Approved Knock-Offs Of Biotech Drugs Could Safely Save Big Bucks
Drugs that consist of proteins and antibodies typically made by living organisms represent the new frontier in drug industry competition.