When the US stimulus ends September 30, academic research could suffer. The NIH has funded 18,568 biomedical research projects with the $8.2 billion it received over two years from the stimulus. Its annual grant and contract budget could drop by about 15%, going by this year’s appropriation of $26.2 billion. Universities that have received the […]

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has released a new technical report on nanomaterials. The ISO/TR 11360:2010 report, “Nanotechnologies—Methodology for the classification and categorization of nanomaterials,” offers a global methodology for nanomaterials classification. It aims to alleviate misunderstandings that scientists and researchers have about nanotechnology, due to its wide range of applications and the diverse […]

Major drug makers have a decision to make regarding entrance to the US biosimilars market. Companies must choose how to develop the drugs. They can develop them as new products, which would involve extensive and expensive clinical trials, or opt for a quicker route, similar to that used by generic drugs. Companies hope to begin […]

According to the National Science Foundation, US R&D spending fell 13.1% to $233.92 billion in 2008. The drop during the previous, milder recession was only 0.5%. For the 232 companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, aggregate R&D expenditures increased from $163.37 billion in 2008 to $166.42 billion in 2009. One reason is because […]

The FDA intends to more tightly regulate direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, told Congress that the FDA will create a “draft oversight framework” for laboratory-developed tests (LDTs), a category that has up to now included DTC gene tests. LDTs are tests created and performed […]