Biotech Career Fair Features Largest Employers In Life Sciences Industry The BIO Career Fair is hosted by the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS), Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and BIOCOM, the membership organization representing 5,520 biotech companies in Southern California. Candidates will have the opportunity to meet with recruiters from many of the largest biotech companies.

Hearing To Focus On Direct-To-Consumer Ads For Prescription Drugs Officials for Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Schering-Plough on Thursday will testify at a House Energy and Commerce

Regulatory Filing For FACTIVE Tablets Submitted In Europe Oscient Pharmaceuticals Corporation's (Nasdaq: OSCI) commercialization partner for FACTIVE® (gemifloxacin mesylate) tablets, Menarini Group, a leading European pharmaceutical company based in Italy, has submitted a regulatory filing seeking approval of FACTIVE in Europe.

UK Architects RMJM To Design $90m Biotech Facility In Beijing UK architecture firm RMJM has been appointed design architect for a state-of-the-art $US90 million biotechnology research and development centre in Beijing , it was announced recently. The new facility is for Genzyme Corp. The facility is to be built at Zhongguancun (ZGC) Life Science Park which is dedicated to academic and government research centres as well as pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Should Patients Be Allowed To Pay Top-up Fees To Acquire Certain Treatments? Should patients be allowed to purchase the treatment they want? UKIn the UK, some believe that patients should be allowed to purchase anytreatments that they want. This policy shift is debated between twoexperts in an article published on BMJ.com.The motivation for debate comes from a recent ruling regarding theAlzheimer's drug Aricept.

Connecticut Senate Approves Legislation To Expand State Health Care Plan The Connecticut Senate on Wednesday voted 22-12 to approve legislation that would allow workers in small businesses, municipalities and not-for-profit groups to join the state employee health insurance pool, the Hartford Courant reports. The bill now goes to Gov. M. Jodi Rell (R) for final approval.

Contract Dispute Between California Hospital And Insurer Disrupts Care For Hmong Immigrant Children, Parents Say A dispute between Children's Hospital Central California and Anthem Blue Cross has caused Hmong immigrant children enrolled in government health insurance programs in Fresno County, Calif.

Illinois Gov. Blagojevich To Stop Enrolling People In Expanded FamilyCare Program Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) will follow a judge's orders to stop enrolling uninsured residents in his expanded version of FamilyCare, a state program that subsidizes health care for families, the AP/Chicago Tribune reports (AP/Chicago Tribune, 5/6).

Senate Subcommittee Votes To Boost FDA Funding By 275 Million Dollars In an important first step towards achieving increased funding for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), members of a Senate appropriations subcommittee approved an additional $275 million in appropriations for the agency. The additional resources would provide a significant boost to the FDA's ability to monitor drug safety.

Industry Distribution Of Journal Articles Ineffective, ASHP Tells FDA The pharmaceutical industry's distribution of journal articles on off-label uses to healthcare providers is ineffective and inappropriate; ASHP recently told the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in comments on its draft guidance outlining good reprint practices for drug manufacturers to follow when providing health providers with information on off-label uses. In its comments, ASHP urged the FDA to reinstitute its formal review of manufacturer-distributed journal articles.