industry itself is under a lot of pressure there will be some changes Recognising RFID is only part a new wave of sensor based
Loss of patents cause concern for drug firms By Tricia Bishop, The Baltimore Sun Nov. 30--The Viagras and Zolofts, the Lipitors and Nexiums are in trouble. Such blockbuster drugs have earned billions for their creators, but patents are soon to expire on some of the most popular products, opening their formulas to generic copycats and threatening the future profits for drug companies desperate to product the next generation of stars for the medicine cabinet. That situation underlies this week's announcement by Merck & Co. Inc. that it will layoff 7,000 employees, one-tenth of its workforce, and shutter five of 31 manufacturing sites to save $4 billion through 2010. The company said it would also look to acquire another company to build its product pipeline. Other Pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer Inc. and Wyeth, have also cut jobs and closed plants during the past year to head off expected declines in profits. "They've had this productivity problem now since the late 1990s. I think they were hoping it would just go away if they kept doing things the way they had been doing them," said Christopher-Paul Milne, assistant director of the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development in Boston. "But for better or for worse, [they're realizing t |
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