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A small number of German universities will next week receive a large boost in fame and fortune as Germany seeks to restore the fortunes of its science.

These days, Big Pharma does not appear to have many friends. The market performance of many big pharmaceutical companies has been middling, as the sector’s competitive position is perceived to be under several threats. The drug pipeline appears to be drying up and geared more toward lifestyle enhancement than life savings. Costly and reputation-damaging liability suits are proliferating. Pricing pressures are relentless. They come from pressure groups such as AIDS patients; but they are reinforced by public authorities, not only in the developing world but also in the US and in Europe, as governments seek to slow down the relentless progress of health expenditures.

An obsession with the equity gap is obscuring the real reasons why universities are failing to commercialise their research, says one of the UK's leading spin-out investors.

A new centre is to develop clinical-grade embryonic stem cell lines to offer to companies and researchers free of intellectual property rights.

Corporations may be their own worst enemy when it comes to new ideas and innovations, which is good news for external partners, says an IBM executive.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, funded by the US Department of Energy, proclaims its interest in bringing technology to the market in the latest issue of its glossy magazine.