An infamous intellectual property battle ended when Genentech and MedImmune settled a lawsuit over the validity of Genentech’s Cabilly 2 patent, a basic method for producing therapeutic antibodies. The patent remains valid, allowing Genentech to continue reaping steep royalties from its licensees.
Generic biologic drugs aren't yet permitted in the US, but several North American biotech companies are ramping up preparations to be the first to produce such drugs for the US market.
Stuffed into the US stimulus package is a provision that biotech companies fear will allow the federal government to restrict patients’ access to approved drugs.
People dying from a terminal illness have the right to buy experimental drugs from companies before the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved them, a US federal appeals court ruled in May.
A multiple sclerosis drug yanked off the market last year is on track to return, prompting some experts to say it should perhaps not have been withdrawn in the first place.
Some companies making fuel from algae are misleading the public and investors about their capabilities. This story exposes the junk science in the algal biofuels industry.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched a new program intended to encourage companies to develop treatments for the neglected diseases of developing countries.
The federal government is about to open up to wind energy development vast swaths of deep ocean waters. New Jersey is vying to be the first to seize the new frontier.
Three start-up biotech companies in January began their lives under the shelter of corporate incubators built by Biogen Idec and Pfizer. The incubators offer a stable beginning for fledgling companies, but the start-ups must be willing to pay the ultimate price: the parents provide space, expertise and capital in exchange for acquisition rights after two to three years.
Conscientious consumers might look for the organic label when buying milk and the Fair Trade logo when purchasing coffee, but finding a certified ecotourism operation for your next vacation isn’t so straightforward.
New online marketplaces offer everything from home biodiesel processors to reclaimed lumber.
Consolidation in the young biofuel industry illustrates a trend of moving away from first-generation biofuels derived from food crops such as corn, sugarcane and oilseed, and toward the next generation, made from more plentiful lignocellulosic feedstocks such as corn stover, grasses and wood chips.
Forced into entrepreneurialism by Hungary's transition from socialism to a free-market economy, Hungarian scientist Gyorgy Keri founded one of his country's first biotech companies.
Of all the things that a city could be known for, a solid supply of human-tissue samples is the least sexy. But it is this feature that has helped make Barcelona a hub for biotech start-up companies focused on cancer.
For as long as the biotechnology industry has been around, Mexico has required international drug makers who want to sell their products there to manufacture them there too. That has changed, thanks to new rules that have left some Mexican experts a little uneasy.
Scientists' attempts to bring biotech crops to hungry people have been thwarted by regulations. Here's the story of Dennis Gonsalves' failed attempt to save Thailand's papaya.
President Obama chose Roger Beachy, head of the Danforth Plant Science Center, to run the newly created National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Emily talks to Beachy about his plans for the agency.
