As people respond to hard times by juggling the cost of necessities, drugs sometimes have to wait.

As people respond to financial and economic hard times by juggling the cost of necessities like groceries and housing, drugs are sometimes having to wait.

As people respond to financial and economic hard times by juggling the cost of necessities like groceries and housing, drugs are sometimes having to wait.

Abbott Laboratories said its third-quarter profit jumped 51 percent, led by sales of the arthritis medication Humira and increase in sales of stents and other heart-related devices.

Genentech reported that sales of its cancer drug Avastin topped Wall Street estimates, even though third-quarter earnings fell short of analyst expectations because of higher costs.

Lobbyists and executives say the swing reflects the fact that drug companies’ fortunes depend more than ever on Democrats in power.

Eli Lilly agreed to pay $6.5 billion for ImClone Systems, the biotechnology company that is controlled by Carl C. Icahn.

Eli Lilly has agreed to pay $62 million to 33 states to settle claims that it improperly marketed Zyprexa, its top-selling drug.

The directors of Eli Lilly and ImClone Systems have agreed in principle to Lilly’s acquisition of ImClone for about $6.1 billion.

Eli Lilly’s offering for ImClone Systems would be higher than the hostile $4.7 billion offer that Bristol-Myers Squibb has already made for the shares of ImClone it does not already own.