The Tetris of words: naming a pharmaceutical

Jan 2, 2025
Behind every name for a business, product or prescription drug is someone writing hundreds of possible names. Lieba Golden-Koulendros has made a career out it.
"There may be regulatory requirements that you have to encode the name of the generic into the pharmaceutical name," said Lieba Golden-Koulendros.
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Generic drugs in the U.S. face new economic pressures 40 years on

The generic drug industry in the U.S. has saved people billions and billions of dollars. But it faces new economic pressure today.
"Economists told me that now the prices of some drugs are almost too cheap," explained reporter and producer Leslie Walker.
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Medicare proposes limiting coverage of controversial Alzheimer's drug

Jan 13, 2022
Government insurer won't cover Aduhelm's $28,000-a-year price tag except for clinical trials.
A sign for biotechnology company, Biogen, Inc. is seen on a building in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
DOMINICK REUTER/AFP via Getty Images

Federal pharma ingredient stockpile is under construction in Virginia

Oct 19, 2021
The stockpile is a way to address shortages of some medicines. Some of the ingredients will be stored for emergency use.
Construction is underway in Petersburg, Virginia, on buildings to house a stockpile of pharmaceutical ingredients.
Nancy Marshall-Genzer

The antibiotics industry is in trouble. Operation Warp Speed may hold some solutions.

Jul 7, 2021
The antibiotics sector needs a revitalizing shot. The U.S. government's response to COVID may hold some answers.
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Caution: Kodak's comeback may not be picture-perfect

Aug 7, 2020
The Trump administration has given Kodak hundreds of millions of dollars to produce chemicals for COVID-19 treatments. But the venerable photography company will have to compete with a global supply chain.
Point-and-shoot cameras, both digital and film, are attracting Gen Z's attention. David Little of the International Center of Photography in New York says this might point to boredom with perfection and an interest in the image-making process.
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U.S. and EU vaccine deals raise fears of 'vaccine nationalism'

Jul 31, 2020
What does it mean for the rest of the world if countries have dibs on vaccine doses?
President Donald Trump tours a North Carolina lab making components for a potential vaccine. The U.S. has struck deals with drug companies for access to coronavirus vaccines in development.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Prescription drug supply could be hit by COVID-19

Feb 26, 2020
China plays a big part in the supply chain of Americans' generic drugs
COVID-19 could affect the supply of prescription drugs worldwide.
Dale de la Rey/AFP via Getty Images

New gene therapy drug expected to hit market with head-spinning price tag

May 22, 2019
Industry analysts expect the price for the single-treatment therapy to be anywhere from $1.5 million to $5 million.
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis' Basel headquarters.
SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP/Getty Images