Wall street probe

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been asked to investigate claims that stock-market analysts are paying doctors to leak early findings from clinical trials of drugs. Senator Chuck Grassley (Republican, Iowa), chair of the Senate finance committee, has asked the SEC to look into the allegations, which were first reported on 7 August in The Seattle Times. The report said that analysts used the information to promote biotechnology stocks, whose values rest heavily on single trial outcomes.

Out of orbit

The man in charge of satellite and intelligence programmes at aerospace company Boeing is to retire early, amid allegations of cost overruns on vast contracts to build secret networks of satellites for the US government. Roger Roberts, the senior executive responsible for the programmes, will retire at the age of 58. Information about one of the contracts — a $20-billion project to build spy satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office — has leaked into the public domain as members of Congress grow concerned at spiralling costs.

Greater Elan

Irish biotechnology company Elan and its US partner Biogen Idec have said that a safety evaluation of their multiple-sclerosis drug Tysabri is proceeding well and could be completed this summer. Shares in Elan rose by about a fifth to $7.25 on the news. They had crashed earlier this year after it became known that two patients who had been taking part in the trials had died of a rare brain disease. Elan and Biogen are expected to resume large-scale trials of the drug soon.