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As anyone in pharma knows, data can be a wonderful thing. Crunching data can also be addictive, like kettle corn or tortilla chips. We here at FierceMarkets can spend hours consuming statistics about our readers and web traffic. Here are the stories that garnered the most web traffic over the past 12 months. More >>

In the first half of 2012 alone, a record year for both federal and state financial recoveries, there were $5 billion and $1.6 billion in settlements, respectively. Three of the 10 largest settlements and judgments in the 20-month period were single-state settlements. The report's researchers were unable to determine what prompted some states to take actions individually, and while federal penalties still make up the bulk of the cost to pharma, aggressive states have clearly added to the litigation risk for drugmakers. Click here to check out the full report >>

Some of the biggest blockbusters known to the pharma industry have been swept off the patent cliff and tumbled into the brutal land of generic therapies, where low-priced competition awaits to chop up markets. Barring the development of new megablockbusters this list is likely to remain stable for some time. That's positive for the companies and their investors. It will also help fund major R&D operations around the globe. And the drive to improve performance should continue to drive innovation. Click here to check out the full report >>

For generics makers, Big Pharma's patent cliff is more like a mountain. With preparation and drive and some luck, companies that specialize in copycat drugs can climb from one newly off-patent blockbuster to another, adding millions in sales along the way. Plus, branded drugmakers have been diversifying to make up for plummeting sales of their no-longer-exclusive megadrugs. Sometimes, that means joining hands with their generics-making rivals, often to take advantage of their low-cost production and broad access to markets in the developing world. That's a double dose of growth serum for generics makers.