Merck has AIDS drug disappointment

Pharmaceutical companies are in a precarious position these days. On one hand, some of the industry's products help many people tremendously. Well, according to some, anyway.

On the other hand are the side effects to popular prescription drugs that do more harm to many that the disease that was originally targeted. Merck's Vioxx is the most media-covered example of this.

In another setback for the company, a developing AIDS vaccine may not make it to market after the company pulled a large international test of the experimental product after seeing what appears to be a high level of failures.

It's not for a lack of trying, and this field is one of the more promising ones in drug science, way ahead of drugs that treat what I believe to be completely preventable conditions in many, like diabetes and heart disease.