A consultant (from the latin consultus meaning "legal expert") is a professional who provides expert advice in a particular domain or area of expertise such as accountancy, technology, the law, human resources, marketing, medicine, finance, public affairs, communication, or more esoteric areas of knowledge, for example engineering of different kinds, scientific specialties such as materials science, instrumentation, avionics, and stress analysis.

A consultant is also the term used to denote the most senior medical position in the United Kingdom (e.g., a consultant surgeon).

Ways in which consultants work

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Often a consultant provides expertise to clients who require a particular type of knowledge or service for a specific period of time, thus providing an economy to the client. In other situations, companies implementing a major project may need additional experienced staff to assist with increased work during that period.

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Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry News From Medical News Today

Fast Track Drugs Reach Market Sooner, According To Tufts Center For The Study Of Drug Development
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:00:00 -0700
New drugs that receive fast track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) experience shorter clinical and approval times compared to drugs without the designation, according to a recently completed study of the first decade of the fast track program conducted by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development. Total average clinical and approval time for fast track drugs was 5% faster than for all drugs -- 73.1 vs. 77.
Nature Inspires New Highly Specific Drugs And Organic Products
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 04:00:00 -0700
The best place to seek novel compounds for pharmaceutical drugs, alternative energy sources, and a host of industrial applications, is within natural systems that have evolved over millions of years.
Nanotechnology? Synthetic Biology? Hey, What's That?
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:00:00 -0700
Nanotechnology and synthetic biology are two of the most exciting fields in science. They are the focus of venture capitalists, government and university laboratories, major corporations, and startup companies.
CV Therapeutics Initiates Phase 1 Clinical Trial Of CVT-3619, A Novel Potential Treatment For Cardiometabolic Diseases
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700
CV Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CVTX) announced that the company has enrolled the first patient in a Phase 1 trial of CVT-3619, a novel oral compound for potential treatment of cardiometabolic diseases. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently accepted the Company's investigational new drug application for CVT-3619, a partial A1 adenosine receptor agonist.
Further Analysis From ATHENA Study Showed That Multaq(R)(Dronedarone) Reduced The Risk Of Stroke In Patients With Atrial Fibrillation
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700
This Analysis Showed That Multaq(R) (Dronedarone) Decreased the Risk of Stroke by 34% in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation or Atrial Flutter Already Adequately Treated by Antithrombotic Therapy The results of a post-hoc analysis of the data from the ATHENA study were presented today at the clinical trial update session of the European Society of Cardiology congress 2008, in Munich, Germany.
Phase III Clinical Studies Of Aclidinium Bromide Show Statistical Significance Vs. Placebo In Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: FRX) and Laboratorios Almirall, S.A. announced results from two global Phase III studies of aclidinium bromide, a novel long-acting inhaled anticholinergic for the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The Seattle Times: Biotech


News on biotechnology pharmaceutical from BioPortfolio.com

Applikon Biotechnology B.V. Announces Management Buy-Out
Bioresearch Online:
America's Pharmaceutical Research Companies Respond To Hurricane Gustav's Landfall
Pharmaceutical Online:
VC funding for biotech companies withering
Checkbiotech:

The Economist: Biotechnology

Pharmaceuticals: Convergence or conflict?
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:35:36 -0000
Drug giants’ recent attempts to buy big biotech firms have provoked a backlashDALLIANCES between conventional pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology firms are nothing new. Big Pharma, eager to refill its emptying drug pipelines, has in recent years looked hopefully to biotech’s upstarts. The drugs giants have pursued all sorts of tie-ups, from alliances to licensing deals to outright purchases of a few smallish companies. But mindful of the sharp cultural differences between the two sorts of firms, they have generally avoided big acquisitions.Until now, that is. In recent weeks Roche, a Swiss pharmaceuticals giant, has made a surprise $44 billion bid for the 44% of Genentech, the world’s biggest biotech firm by stockmarket value, that it does not already own; and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), an American drugs company, has offered $4.5 billion for the 83% of ImClone, an American biotech firm, that it does not already control. These attempts came on the heels of earlier deals in which AstraZeneca, a British drugs giant, bought MedImmune for $15.6 billion, and Takeda of Japan paid $8.8 billion for Millennium. ...
Gene doping: Fairly safe
Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:10:21 -0000
What athletes may or may not do ought to be decided on grounds of safety, not fairnessANOTHER Olympics, another doping debate. And this time it is a fervent one, as recent advances in medical science have had the side-effect of providing athletes with new ways of enhancing performance, and thus of putting an even greater strain on people’s ethical sensibilities. This is especially true of gene therapy. Replacing defective genes holds out great promise for people suffering from diseases such as muscular dystrophy and cancer. But administered to sprightly sportsmen, the treatment may allow them to heave greater weights, swim faster and jump farther (see article). And that would be cheating, wouldn’t it? ...
Gene doping: Genetically Modified Olympians?
Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:10:21 -0000
On the eve of the Beijing Olympics, we examine the prospect of athletes using gene therapy to enhance their performance—and of catching them if they tryFOR as long as people have vied for sporting glory, they have also sought shortcuts to the champion’s rostrum. Often, those shortcuts have relied on the assistance of doctors. After all, most doping involves little more than applying existing therapies to healthy bodies. These days, however, the competition is so intense that existing therapies are not enough. Now, athletes in search of the physiological enhancement they need to take them a stride ahead of their opponents are scanning medicine’s future, as well as its present. In particular, they are interested in a field known as gene therapy. Gene therapy works by inserting extra copies of particular genes into the body. These extra copies, known as “transgenes”, may cover for a broken gene or regulate gene activity. Though gene therapy has yet to yield a reliable medical treatment, more than 1,300 clinical trials are now under way. As that number suggests, the field is reckoned to be full of promise. ...

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