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Many pharmaceutical firms have drawn criticism for extending their franchises through frivolous lawsuits blocking equivalent generic drugs that are much less expensive. To allow drug companies to recoup investments and collect healthy returns, the Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984 gives companies 20-year monopolies from the day they patent a product. (After that, revenues from a drug can drop as much as 80% within months as generics erode the market.) The law allows drug firms a 30-month monopoly extension to resolve patent disputes. That loophole is much abused. Companies often sue generic manufacturers just to buy time...
...little Canadian company has done for DNA collection what Google did for Web searches: made it ridiculously simple and efficient. Ottawa-based DNA Genotek has developed a device that allows you to collect and store a sample of DNA by just spitting into a small plastic vial. Closing the lid on the gadget, called Oragene, releases a chemical that stabilizes the saliva, allowing it to be easily shipped and stored indefinitely. It's a huge advantage over getting a blood sample (inefficient) or swabbing the inside of the mouth (less stable...
...Genotek's main customers are medical researchers, Big Pharma companies developing drugs that can be tailored to individuals, and researchers involved in large genetic studies. Chaim Birnboim, a research scientist and med-school professor who developed Oragene, knew there was demand for a simple, noninvasive DNA-collection method, "and I thought, I can do that." The trick was discovering that saliva was a rich source of DNA that could be easily stabilized. The product could have important implications for law enforcement, forensic sciences and the military. Individuals may even want an Oragene kit to preserve a bit of a loved...
...which point hundreds of thousands of students demanded their money back. The result was the equivalent of a bank run: as students rushed to close their accounts, the company fell some $380 million into debt. Nova then filed for bankruptcy protection, making it impossible for students and teachers to collect their tuition refunds and unpaid wages...
...fever in Haiti, Napoléon decided to cut his losses and sold the territory to the U.S. for the bargain price of $15 million. By 1861, however, Napoléon's nephew Napoléon III was ready to try another New World power play, sending an army to Mexico to collect debts and later installing an Austrian archduke as emperor. The U.S., distracted by the Civil War, did nothing at first. But in 1866 it demanded that the French withdraw and offered moral and diplomatic support when the Mexicans overthrew the imperial puppet regime soon thereafter...