Time for a medical

摘要

Last week was an acutely difficult one for the pharmaceutical industry. On 20 May, Pfizer, the world's biggest drug company, announced the departure of both its research director, John LaMattina, and its chief financial officer. The following day, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine cast doubt on the safety of GlaxoSmithKline's blockbuster diabetes drug Avandia (see page 512). And that same day, Amgen received an unwelcome subpoena from the New York State attorney general, apparently related to questions about its marketing activities that have so far this year knocked onefifth off the immense market capitalization of one of the worlds top two biotechnology companies.