The big bottleneck in going from gene to drug is having the chemical know-how to create a small molecule drug, the kind of chemical that can be produced very cheaply and sold for a lot of money.

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Second, large drug companies are trying to avoid traditional small molecule drugs that will face large generic uptake after their patents expire.

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It is in the process of completing the acquisition of Allos Therapeutics (ALTH), whose drug, Folotyn, is a small-molecule therapeutic for cancer.

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Because most small-molecule drugs can be manufactured with easily replicable chemical processes that lead to a largely reproducible drug formulation, the clinical trial data that supported approval of the original version can be relied upon for the generic versions.

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