Morning Edition on WEKU

Drug companies aren't the only ones making money inventing new medicines for the market. A man in Massachusetts has brought three drugs to market almost on his own. His process is the same as the big drug makers, but he farms out each aspect of the process to independent labs and specialists. When the drug starts to succeed in trials, he sells it to one of the big companies. Curt Nickisch of member station WBUR reports.

Steve Inskeep has the Last Word in business.

Gerontologist and commentator Mark Lachs says research in aging shows that once people reach a certain age, rates of disease, disability, and death start to decline.

I have a 98-year-old patient who's not only independent but rather dashing. He recently asked a series of questions that reminded me of one of the most intriguing scientific papers in gerontology.

Is it okay if he has a little cheese and butter from time to time? In modest amounts, he assured me.

Baseball star Nyjer Morgan of the Milwaukee Brewers sent a tweet to followers asking, "Wat should ur boy do today?" A follower replied, "Fly a kite!" Morgan stood up, went outside and actually flew one.

Drivers in Kentucky were the latest to see an electronic alert on an interstate warning of zombies ahead. And, the manager of Legoland discovered his car had been replaced with a life-sized replica made of 200,000 Legos.

Washington is calling on Syria to remove its troops from the border with Turkey. Aid officials say hundreds of Syrians fled makeshift camps into southeastern Turkey as the military approached.

Ankara doesn't want to lose its economic engagement with Syria, but nonetheless is shifting its rhetoric in support of the people demanding more freedoms.

State lawmakers have approved deep cuts in benefits for government workers and retirees in New Jersey. State and local workers will have to contribute more to their health insurance and pension plans. And they'll lose collective bargaining rights over health benefits.

The U.S. Agency for International Development is going to have to do more with less as it faces serious budget cuts. USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah talks to Renee Montagne about what the troop drawdown in Afghanistan will mean for U.S. assistance for Afghanistan.

President Obama's nominee to head the CIA was on Capitol Hill Thursday for a confirmation hearing. The Senate Intelligence Committee asked Gen. David Petraeus about many things, including Obama's decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. Petreaus also told the panel that to do the CIA job properly, he would retire from the Army.

During the last presidential campaign, the war in Iraq was the most important foreign issue. Now that President Obama has pulled combat troops out of Iraq, another campaign season is here, and Afghanistan has the spotlight. How will the plan Obama announced this week for a troop drawdown influence the presidential race?

Steve Inskeep has business news.

It's the 25th anniversary of Pixar Animation and the studio is marking the occasion with a new Cars film. The original came out five years ago and was very successful. Cars 2 is so close to the heart of John Lasseter that he carved out time from being the creative czar of both Pixar and Disney animation to direct it himself.

The Obama administration announced it will release 30 million barrels from the nation's strategic petroleum reserve. The move was coordinated with members of the International Energy Agency to offset supply disruptions from Libya's civil war.

Renee Montagne has the Last Word in business.

The Obama administration has set a hard deadline of August 2 for Congress to come up with a deal and pass it into law. But the parties hit a stalemate on the issue of taxes.

The U.S. Supreme Court handed the pharmaceutical industry two major victories on Thursday.

China is making its presence known at this year's Paris Air Show. It is the premier event for those who make and buy aircraft. And China is there as one of the world's largest purchaser of jetliners. It is also trying to make its mark as a manufacturer. Eleanor Beardsley reports.

In 2009, when the Peruvian film The Milk of Sorrow won top honors at the Berlin Film Festival, lead actress Magaly Solier did something surprising — she chose to accept the award by singing a song in Quechua, a common indigenous language of Peru.

As a high school teacher at Friends Seminary in New York, John Byrne has taught hundreds of students. Recently, he spoke with a former student, Samantha Liebman, about the years before he became the teacher he is today. For one thing, his classrooms were very regimented.

"I would make the kids line up before they came into class," he says, "and then they would stand by their desks and I would say, 'You may sit down when I sit down.' They said, 'Good morning, Mr. Byrne.'

"I was very strict, because I was afraid the kids would discover I was gay," he says.

The World Egg Throwing Federation says its "eggstatic" now that the English Sports Council has deemed most of its games "legitimate sports." The list includes throw and catch and target throwing. Russian egg roulette did not make the cut.

Selectmen in Greenwood, Maine, have decided they will not change the name of Alcohol Mary Road. It's named after a Prohibition bootlegger. A local man says it defames his grandmother, who's named Mary, but is no relation to Alochol Mary.

President Obama has studied the life of President Lincoln. In his second inaugural address in 1865, Lincoln spoke of the Civil War, then nearing its end: "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in." A section of Obama's speech had a similar rhythm.

The U.S. military is investigating claims by veterans that they buried barrels of a toxic defoliant at an American base in South Korea three decades ago. Agent Orange was used during the Vietnam War, and it's been blamed for a variety of ailments, including cancer and nerve disorders.

Steve Inskeep has the Last Word in business.

Steve Inskeep talks with George Packer about his latest "New Yorker" article "A Dirty Business." The piece follows the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York during an insider trading case. Packer explores why it's been difficult to build prosecutions directly tied to the financial crisis.

Some 11,000 people were told to evacuate Minot, North Dakota, yesterday because of flooding. Residents are expecting floodwaters to reach as high as rooftops. For the latest developments there, Renee Montagne talks with reporter Perry Olson.

President Obama travels to Fort Drum in upstate New York on Thursday. The base has sent many troops to Afghanistan over the past decade. Last night, David Sommerstein of North Country Public Radio got reaction on the president's speech from people at Fort Drum.

A notorious Boston gangster has been captured by authorities near Los Angeles. James "Whitey" Bulger is on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list for his alleged role in 19 murders. The 81-year-old has been on the run for 16 years.

Renee Montagne has business news.

As drivers get their cars ready for summer road trips, Valvoline is marketing a new, greener car oil. Scott Graf of member station WFAE in Charlotte reports.