Merck trumpets a global research initiative to speed cancer drugs

Merck (NYSE: MRK) has pieced together an international network of cancer research centers that will collaborate with the Big Pharma company on new and better ways to speed the development of cancer drugs and vaccines. In trumpeting the move, Merck cited a recent IOM study which concluded that half of all cancer trials were scuttled due to bureaucracy, bad procedures and poor coordination-hurdles that could be overcome through better coordination and collaboration. "By partnering at an...

Biotech collaborations in developing countries focus on cheaper drugs

A new study in Nature Biotechnology explores the rapidly proliferating links among developers in the Southern Hemisphere as they push for new therapies, vaccines and diagnostic tests that will specifically help the world's poorest people in developing nations. Researchers from five developing nations joined with Canada's McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health to track the growth of south-south biotech collaborations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. By specifically focusing on therapeutics...