Publisher's note: 'Tis the season to reflect on the year's blessings

'Tis the season to reflect on the year's blessings, andthanks to the loyalty of our readers and the hard work of our editorial andsales teams, ddn has much to be gratefulfor this Thanksgiving.

This year, we celebrated our fifth anniversary of coveringthe issues, trends and product news that impact decision makers in thepharmaceutical drug development and discovery arena—at a shaky economic timefor both the publishing and pharmaceutical industries. As many publicationsfolded or merged, or took drastic measures to cut their services, we at ddn instead channeled our loyal readership andadvertiser satisfaction into a mission of growth and investment.

Earlier this year in our April issue, I reviewed some of thechanges we made to our Web site, www.drugdiscoverynews.com, and our bi-monthlye-newsletter, ddn Online. Both of thesenews vehicles got a much-needed facelift that made these products morereadable, concise and organized, making our content easier to read, locate andnavigate. In addition, you may have noticed that our new Web site allows oureditors to post breaking news on a daily basis—giving you the news as it happens—aswell as to highlight some of our unique content.

All of these efforts have paid off—for example, I'm pleasedto report that visitors to our Web site spend an average of almost 10 minutesper visit reading the news, about double most reported estimates of under 5minutes for other online newspapers.

Since my April column, ddn has also introduced an important news vehicle that puts our respectededitorial product in the hands of readers abroad. This summer, we launched anelectronic, digital verison of ddnfor readers who are located outside of North America. After just a few months,I am happy to report that our readership has surpassed our closest publishingcompetition by four times its circulation.

As the year comes to a close and we prepare to greet 2010, ddn remains committed to investing in both our onlineand print vehicles. We will continue to expand our online presence withramped-up social media efforts, audio interviews, interactive forums andexpanded daily news coverage.

Equally exciting if that beginning in January 2010, you willnotice many changes to the departments in this newspaper, as well as therevitalization of others. The ever-popular Global News and Research &Development departments will continue to anchor our monthly print product, butwe're also introducing several new departments to reflect current hot topicsand trends in the industry: Diagnostics, and two sections that will rotateevery other month, Government Watch and Contract Research Services.

To further broaden our coverage, Genomics & Proteomicswill become Omics & Systems Biology, while Instruments & Informaticswill become a hybrid of what has been our Automation & Instrumentation andInformatics departments.

Finally, a redesigned Markets page will deliver useful financialnews at a glance, and thanks to our partnership with market research firmCutting Edge Information, our new Facts & Figures department will provideyou with valuable market research and a breakdown of recent industry trends.

Our ability to continue to invest in our news products is atestament our readers' dedication, encouragement and feedback, and for theseblessings, we at ddn are truly thankful.As we enter a new year and a new era in our company's rapidly growing history,we look forward to continuing to find new ways to serve you better, and inviteyou to share you comments and suggestions for improvement. From all of us at ddn, thank you, and we wish you as many blessings thisThanksgiving as you have bestowed on our publication's family.