►February 25, 2004 - Commercial funds pay for our research - letters to the editor - The Guardian 

►January 25, 2004 - Fears Grow as Drug Firms Quit Antibiotic Research - Reuters - "With 'superbugs' stalking hospitals and old killers such as tuberculosis re-emerging, the world badly needs more powerful antibiotics...Yet the pipeline of new treatments is drying up as drug firms -- citing poor financial returns -- focus instead on chronic conditions, such as high cholesterol, where medicines are taken for years rather than curing patients in one or two weeks...The shrinking of the medical armory is a growing worry for healthcare officials and has sparked a debate between regulators and pharmaceutical companies over ways to kick-start investment."

Comment:  Is it really poor financial returns which are keeping the pharmaceutical industry from developing new antibiotics?  Or is it the knowledge that we will make it worth their while if they balk at doing so?

►January 21, 2004 - US Senate likely to pass budget - Outlook for NIH in FY 2005: 'another really tough year,' say advocates - The Scientist

►January 14, 2004 - Biotech's Babies: Doing Well by Doing Good - As Big Pharma pulls out of the low-margin vaccine business, upstart outfits are exploiting new technologies to tap niche markets - Business Week Online