Despite this systematic difficulty, however, some doctors are trying to extend clinical trials to areas outside pharmaceuticals.

ECONOMIST: Trial and error

At Cubist Pharmaceuticals outside Boston, Wyeth veteran Francis Tally rescued a novel antibiotic abandoned by Eli Lilly.

FORBES: Germ Warfare

O. of Synta Pharmaceuticals, a small biotechnology company located outside Boston.

NEWYORKER: The Treatment

"Outside the U.S. HIV is still a pandemic, " says Donald Elmer, chief executive of Koronis Pharmaceuticals, a small private biotech firm in Seattle that has come up with what its scientists believe could be a better treatment.

FORBES: Magazine Article