Brian Orelli, PhD

Data on Geron's imetelstat looks good, but Incyte, Cell Therapeutics and Gilead Sciences don't have to worry just yet. The drug is years away from approval.

Uncertainty around Copaxone exclusivity makes it hard for Teva Pharmaceutical to give accurate guidance.

Thanks to competitors Prosensa and GalxoSmithKline, Sarepta had a rocky 2013.

The approval of Gilead's Sovaldi sets the drug up to compete with Johnson & Johnson's Olysio, leaving Vertex Pharmaceuticals' and Merck's first-generation hepatitis C drugs in their wake. The fight may be short-lived, though, as patients wait for all-oral combinations from Gilead and AbbVie.

The showdown between Arena Pharmaceuticals and VIVUS in 2013 was much ado about nothing. Will Orexigen entering the obesity market in 2014 change things?

Sarepta Therapeutics, Ariad Pharmaceuticals, and Amarin saw the FDA backtrack on earlier decisions this year.

Marijuana could surpass Pfizer's Lipitor as the best-selling legal drug ever. Despite attempts by Sanofi, blocking the receptor that marijuana stimulates has proved elusive.

Despite discounts on drugs, certain drugmakers look poised to benefit from increased enrollment in Obamacare.

VIVUS, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Orexigen, and Novo Nordisk have competition from privately held Zafgen.

Sarepta Pharmaceuticals, Ariad Pharmaceuticals, and Enanta Pharmaceuticals, which will get royalties from AbbVie, make the list.

Ariad Pharmaceuticals' stock makes a comeback, but how its blood cancer drug will compete with Novartis' Gleevec and Bristol-Myers Squibb's Sprycel remains to be seen.

Orexigen could join VIVUS and Arena Pharmaceuticals on the obesity drug market after a safety trial showed that Contrave didn't produce excessive risk.

Johnson & Johnson beats Gilead Sciences to deliver the first next-generation hepatitis C drug approved in the U.S., but a battle with Vertex Pharmaceuticals' and Merck's first-generation drugs will be short lived with Gilead and AbbVie developing all-oral cocktails.

Amarin continues to suffer from data from trials of AbbVie's and Merck's drugs, unable to compete with GlaxoSmithKline until Vascepa's label is expanded.

Vertex sells royalty rights to hepatitis C drug Incivo to partner Johnson & Johnson for $152 million.

AbbVie and Gilead Sciences battle it out while Merck, Roche, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals are left in the dust. Enanta Pharmaceuticals wins if AbbVie wins because it helped develop part of AbbVie's drug combo.

Tweets about Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Sarepta Therapeutics, Sanofi, and Johnson & Johnson highlight this week's article.

With pressure from Johnson & Johnson, Medivation and Astellas, Dendreon has no other choice but to cut costs,

In a situation reminicent of Elan and Biogen Idec's Tysabri, Ariad Pharmaceuticals needs to get Iclusig back on the market. How that'll affect competing leukemia drugs from Novartis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Pfizer remains to be seen.

Despite the failure of Prosensa and GlaxoSmithKline's drissapersen, Sarepta looks like a winner, although it'll take longer to achieve.