I'm in pharma - also started my job hunt from the US and my method was to contact recruiters. There were plenty (of recruiters and jobs) when I started looking (March '08), they lined up several phone interviews for me right away, I had 2 face-to-face interviews in April, accepted an offer in May and started current position in August.
I'd be happy to share recruiters' names and contacts with anyone who wants, I don't really want to post them on EF. I had some awesome recruiters who were a great help.