Tag: economics
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Generic HIV Drugs Save Money, But Could Impair Effectiveness
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and Yale University in New Haven calculate that switching generic for branded HIV drugs would provide substantial financial savings, but could impede the treatments’ effectiveness. The team’s findings appear in today in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine (paid subscription required).…
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Simulation Seeks Clues to Motivations for Vaccination
Researchers at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina used an online computer game to simulate an infectious disease epidemic and better understand the motivations behind getting or avoiding preventive actions. The work of Wake Forest economists Frederick Chen, Amanda Griffith, Allin Cottrell, and computer scientist Yue-Ling Wong appear this week in the online journal…
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U.S. Industrial Companies Plan More 2013 R&D Spending
Manufacturers in the U.S. expect to make research and development investments in 2013 at the same or higher levels as in 2012, according to a survey by Industrial Research Institute conducted last summer. The annual survey covered 141 medium and large companies mainly in chemicals, advanced materials, gases, food, industrial machinery, and consumer products. Industrial…
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Economic Growth Affected by Parasitic, Insect-Spread Disease
Researchers in the U.S. and France built a mathematical model to estimate the impact of health on economic data that indicates infectious diseases spread by insects, called vector-borne diseases, and parasites found in tropical regions affect economic development in those countries. Their analysis is published online in the journal PLoS Biology. The team led by…
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University Develops, Patents New Coke Fuel Process
Researchers at Purdue University’s Calumet campus in Hammond, Indiana created a new less-expensive process for producing coke, a derivative of coal used in the making of steel, and received a U.S. patent for their discovery. Patent number 8,287,696 was awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in October to Purdue-Calumet physics professor Robert Kramer…
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R&D Project Aims To Cut Time, Cost of Solar Installations
A new research and development project led by North Carolina State University in Raleigh seeks to reduce the time and cost of installing rooftop solar energy systems. The five-year, $9 million grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy to a consortium of NC State’s FREEDM Systems Center — an energy engineering research lab…
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Study: Insurance Industry Adjusting to Climate Change
A study by Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in California finds the global insurance industry is taking human-induced climate change seriously and undertaking a variety of actions to limit the impact of climate change on their companies’ finances. Environmental scientist Evan Mills describes his findings in this week’s issue of the journal Science (paid subscription required).…
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Lower Copays, Mail Orders Close Hypertension Drug Gaps
Researchers with the health care system Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California found lower copayments and use of mail-order refills help reduce race and ethnic disparities in drug adherence for patients diagnosed with high blood pressure. The findings on medicine-taking behavior and measures to cut those differences in drug adherence are reported online in the journal…
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Report: Pharmas Increasing Medicine Access in Poor Regions
A foundation in the Netherlands reports that developing areas of the world have more access to drugs from the top 20 pharmaceutical companies than two years ago. The Access to Medicine Foundation that publishes a bi-annual index of drug access in developing regions says GlaxoSmithKline repeats in 2012 as the leading company in making its…
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Special: Patent Office Director — Software Patents Working
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) director David Kappos pushed back at complaints about software patents harming American innovation, saying the current patent system has generated “an explosion of innovation.” Kappos discussed software patents today in a speech to the progressive think tank Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. Kappos answered charges that the…