By Ben Berkowitz and Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – Horrific race car crashes – like the one at Daytona last week that injured about 30 spectators – are a black eye for the sport. But it’s the U.S. economy that is dragging down racetrack operators like International Speedway Corp.

International Speedway hosts about half of the annual Nascar Sprint Cup races at its dozen tracks across the country, meaning its fortunes are intricately linked to the sport’s success.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Michael Weitz was out of options. The Californian had endured chemotherapy, radiation and surgery but his lung cancer still spread to his bones and brain.

With time running out, the emergency room physician entered a Phase I study – the earliest stage of human testing for a new medicine – of crizotinib. The drug works for about 4 percent of advanced lung cancer patients with a mutated form of a protein called ALK.

NEW YORK, Feb 25 (Reuters) – Michael Weitz was out of
options. The Californian had endured chemotherapy, radiation and
surgery but his lung cancer still spread to his bones and brain.

With time running out, the emergency room physician entered
a Phase I study – the earliest stage of human testing for a new
medicine – of crizotinib. The drug works for about 4 percent of
advanced lung cancer patients with a mutated form of a protein
called ALK.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Favorable results from a huge heart study could help redeem investors’ faith in Merck & Co and its two biggest cholesterol drugs, Vytorin and Zetia, and potentially add billions of dollars in annual revenue.

Investors have soured on the No. 2 U.S. drugmaker since late December, following setbacks to a closely watched experimental drug for osteoporosis and a newer cholesterol medicine.

By Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (REGN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Thursday reported a profit that exceeded Wall Street estimates for the sixth consecutive quarter as sales of its new Eylea eye drug for the leading cause of blindness in the elderly continued to soar.

Eylea, which improves vision in patients with age-related macular degeneration, saw U.S. sales rise to $276 million in the fourth quarter despite major storms that disrupted business in the Northeast during the period. Eylea sales were $244 million in the previous quarter.

Feb 13 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s decision to
spotlight drug rebates as a way to save money on Medicare is
likely to be opposed by the pharmaceutical industry, which could
potentially lose billions of dollars in profits.

In his annual State of the Union speech on Tuesday, Obama
said he would “reduce taxpayer subsidies to prescription drug
companies” to rein in the rising cost of Medicare, the $600
billion healthcare program for the elderly and disabled.

NEW YORK, Feb 11 (Reuters) – Eli Lilly and Co’s
chief executive said his company had no intention of following
Pfizer’s lead by spinning off or selling the company’s
lucrative Elanco animal health unit.

“We’re comfortable with that business and we’re going to
keep it,” Lilly CEO John Lechleiter said definitively on Monday
during a question and answer session at the BIO CEO & Investor
conference in New York.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Amgen Inc (AMGN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Thursday that between this year and 2016 it will have key late-stage data from eight experimental medicines, and that it expects generic versions of biotech drugs, known as biosimilars, to be a multibillion-dollar opportunity for the company.

Amgen Chief Executive Robert Bradway, at a meeting in New York to update analysts and investors on business strategy, said the company plans to launch six biosimilars beginning in 2017 – four cancer drugs and two for inflammatory diseases.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Amgen Inc (AMGN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Thursday that between this year and 2016 it will have key late-stage data from eight experimental medicines, and that it expects generic versions of biotech drugs, known as biosimilars, to be a multi-billion dollar opportunity for the company.

Amgen Chief Executive Robert Bradway, at a meeting in New York with analysts and investors to provide an update to its business strategy, said the company plans to launch six biosimilars beginning in 2017 – four cancer drugs and two for inflammatory diseases.

Feb 4 (Reuters) – Life Technologies Inc, which is
undergoing a strategic review that could lead to the company’s
sale, said on Monday its board had made no decisions and it was
open to all options.

Life Tech, which noted that the process began last summer
when company shares were trading in the $40 range, said the
board review was ongoing.