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Nature 440, 603 (30 March 2006) | doi:10.1038/440603a; Published online 29 March 2006

Open Innovation Challenges

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Merger fever has finally reached Germany's drug firms. But can it cure the industry's woes? Alison Abbott reports.

Despite boasting an impressive historical heritage, Germany's once powerful pharmaceutical industry is now heavily fragmented. But the company that produced the world's first blockbuster drug is making a bid to reclaim some lost ground.