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$2.1 BILLION PHARMA SETTLEMENT. Teva and Sun Pharma will pay $2.15 billion to settle a patent suit related to its acid-reflux drug. "This is the first instance of generic drugmakers paying damages for marketing a copy of an existing drug for which patents have yet to expire (an 'at-risk' launch)." ""It is an important milestone, setting a 'book-end' case for the industry. It will serve to encourage patent settlements," " " http://lnkd.in/dHi9MEX View in LinkedIn

BOTS TO THE RESCUE. "The DARPA Robotics Challenge, by far the most ambitious and exciting large-scale robotics competition the world has ever seen, was largely inspired by the inability to avert disaster at Fukushima; that is not to say the response is due exclusively to Japan’s failure to secure a vital energy source, prevent a meltdown, or limit structural and environmental damage."" " http://lnkd.in/dxJwqhh View in LinkedIn

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FUKUSHIMA AND ROBOTS. "When the radiation levels coming from the ruined Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan were too high to safely allow humans to enter, robots went in first." " " http://lnkd.in/dkPuBiJ View in LinkedIn

Excellent summary. The viral brand of Silicon Valley has mutated and evolved, with new solutions and new ecosystems. There is not just a single path. http://lnkd.in/dttN63V View in LinkedIn

FUKUSHIMA'S ROBOT RENAISSANCE. "Events at Fukushima propelled practical development and funding almost immediately. Private companies such as Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Honda, Panasonic, and Toyota, most of which were already working with robotics, have now increased funding and investments of their proprietary expertise. Government agencies, including JAXA, NEDO, METI, have also increased or refocused support toward university robotics laboratories and private-public partnerships."" " http://lnkd.in/dxJwqhh View in LinkedIn

This simply proves that big companies with huge overheads are poor at innovation when measured by carrying costs. Small VC funded companies innovate successfully for a tiny fraction of the costs of big pharma. The urban myth perpetuates and big pharma likes that to support pricing decisions. http://lnkd.in/dWU3hVf View in LinkedIn

JC VENTER'S NEW BOOK: Venter, 'Life at the Speed of Light', where he discusses the creation of the first synthetic life form. View in LinkedIn

FTC TO CLARIFY PHARMA LITIGATION SETTLEMENTS. The Hatch-Waxman Act permits generic pharma to petition FDA that an innovator's patents are either invalid or that there is no infringement. "Some of these patent infringement suits are resolved by settlements that include a payment by the pioneer manufacturer to the generic manufacturer, which agrees to refrain from producing its generic drug for a specified period...these settlement agreements )are) "reverse payment agreements” or “pay-to-delay” agreements."" " http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=74fc4847-8d29-4cf5-9b15-a86c6cadf2c5 View in LinkedIn

PATENT LITIGATION AND GRANTS have risen steeply since 2009, and track together closely. In 2012, over 260,000 patents were granted, and over 5,000 patent litigation cases were filed. This Price Waterhouse Coopers report is an eye-popping resource. " " http://lnkd.in/dBkSDZC View in LinkedIn