Off-label opportunity in electronic journals

WASHINGTON - A new, global electronic publishing system for biomedical information proposed by NIH Director Harold Varmus could provide biotech companies with a new vehicle for disseminating information to physicians and the public, bypassing restraints imposed by peer-reviewed journals and regulatory authorities.

Varmus suggests that the biomedical community follow in the footsteps of physicists and develop an electronic repository for information easily accessible at no cost to anyone with an Internet connection. Using the system, which Varmus calls "E-biomed", scientists could submit data for publication in peer-reviewed sections of the database, with submission criteria similar to traditional academic journals, or in a "repository."...