Article: DRUG PROFITS DISAPPEAR; BRISTOL-MYERS, MERCK PROBLEMS HIGHLIGHT STRUGGLES OF DRUG INDUSTRY; IMCLONE GAMBLE WAS COSTLY FOR BRISTOL-MYERS.(Business)

Byline: The Associated Press

New York - It's not as if the pharmaceutical companies aren't trying to bolster their bottom lines. It's just that their efforts aren't working.

Consider the past week: Both Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Merck & Co. suffered setbacks as strategies each employed to improve their performance backfired, sending their shares tumbling.

If that wasn't bad enough, a Senate committee passed a bill that would make it easier for generic firms to launch their products. The bill is a direct response to drug companies' attempts to extend their patents, which increases sales, by exploiting loopholes in the current legislation.

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