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  2. Did a Drug Company 'Buy' One of This Year's Nobel Prizes?

Did a Drug Company 'Buy' One of This Year's Nobel Prizes?

By clock on December 18, 2008.

Probably not:

Rumors swirl, but a Swedish prosecutor will only confirm a "preliminary investigation" into allegations that pharma giant AstraZeneca fixed the Nobels for financial gain.

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As for the Nobels, as scurrilous as the charges may sound, there is little evidence to support them. First off, AstraZeneca's ties to the anti-HPV vaccine are tenuous at best: In 2007 it purchased a company called MedImmune, which had developed the viruslike particle (VLP) technology licensed for use in Merck's Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix vaccines -- both designed to prevent HPV infection. The technology, however, is not specific to HPV and companies are working to adapt VLPs and similar techniques for a variety of vaccines, including influenza....

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