Everyone in biomedical science and medicine interacts with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, but students are often unprepared to understand these companies as businesses, evaluate them as places to develop his or her career, understand how they impact science and appreciate how they are changing health care delivery. This seminar course covers how drugs and medical devices are developed and commercialized. The course includes presentations on drug development, clinical trials, the FDA, patent law, pricing policy, drug sales, financial analysis and related topics. It also includes presentations on specific biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including an analysis of present and future performance. Students will be expected to actively participate in 15 meetings over a two-year period (there are 10 meetings each year), extensively follow a single company for a year, evaluate its prospects and make a formal presentation on that company.