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New Regulations for Scientists
All staff scientists at the National Institutes of
Health will be banned from accepting any consulting
fees or other income from drug companies, and the employees
must also divest industry stock holdings, officials
ruled this month.
The new regulations — drawn up by administrators
from the National Institute of Health (NIH), the Office
of Government Ethics and the Department of Health and
Human Services — are aimed at halting lucrative
deals that have led to conflict-of-interest inquiries.
For the last decade, government scientists at the
NIH have quietly been allowed to consult for biomedical
companies under policies that defenders have said helped
attract talented personnel to the agency. Hundreds
of scientists took millions of dollars in fees and
stock from industry. Most of the payments were hidden
from public view, raising questions about the scientists'
impartiality in overseeing clinical trials and in making
recommendations to doctors for treating patients.
In some cases, NIH scientists worked for drug companies
that directly benefited from their recommendations
to doctors. In other cases, scientists appeared at
public forums and commented upon or endorsed treatments
or drugs without revealing that they were on the payroll
of companies making the products.
All NIH scientists will be prohibited from accepting
consulting fees, speaking fees and any other form
of income from all biomedical companies, professional
societies and other outside entities. The scientists
must sell or otherwise dispose of any stock or stock
options they hold in individual pharmaceutical or
biotechnology firms.
Pharmaceuticals For Less
Ten major pharmaceutical companies are joining in
a new program to cut 25 percent to 40 percent from
the retail prices of prescription drugs sold to uninsured
people under 65. The drug makers claim that millions
of Americans go without life-saving drugs because they
lack coverage.People
who enroll in the new program, known as Together Rx
Access, will receive plastic cardsthat can be used
to obtain substantial savings at local drugstores.
The program is the latest effort by drug makers to
meet public demand for their products. The number of
uninsured Americans has been rising, reaching 45 million
in 2003, the last year for which
official figures are available. Sponsors
of the new card estimated that 36 million of those
uninsured would be eligible for it.Several consumer groups
voiced support for the new program, yet emphasized
that it was no substitute for
comprehensive health insurance.
The companies participating in the new program are
Abbott Laboratories, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb,
GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Pfizer,
Sanofi-Aventis, Takeda and TAP Pharmaceutical Products
Monsanto Buys Seminis
Monsanto, leading provider of agricultural products
and solutions, recently bought California-based Seminis,
the world’s largest developer of fruit and vegetable
seeds for $1.4bn in cash.
The move is a sign that revenues in the global agriculture
industry are shifting away from traditional crop chemicals
to seeds and the biotechnology businesses.
It also signals that food and agricultural companies
are looking for ways to profit from signs that consumers
are becoming more aware of the need to eat more healthily.
Seminis provides over 3,500 seed varieties for commercial
growers and wholesalers and is the world’s
largest developer of tomato seeds. It derives 40
per cent of its business from Europe, the Middle
East and Africa and had revenues last year of $526m.
Monsanto, which is already a producer of genetically
modified maize and soyabeans, said that developing
genetically modified vegetables from the Seminis
portfolio could be a longer-term option, with the
company concentrating initially on traditional plant
engineering methods to improve fruit and vegetable
quality.
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