Avoiding the Cure
| Fact 1: | “[A] molecule, called a peptide, blocks the metastasis of melanoma to the lungs and other organs…[and] also blocks angiogenesis, the creation of blood vessels that sustain metastatic tumors,…at least in lab animals.” |
| Fact 2: | “Metastatic cancers…account for some 90 percent of all [human] cancer deaths.” |
| Fact 3: | No one is trying to develop a version that humans can take. |
| Fact 4: | “The chance of FDA approval for a newly discovered molecule, targeting a newly discovered disease mechanism, is a dismal 0.6 percent.” |
Read full article on the barriers to exploiting fundamental drug discoveries.
It’s all about the incentives.
This article describes the incredible obstacles that must be overcome to get drugs to the marketplace. Yet many in Congress think drug companies are greedy profiteers, who can be extorted for political gain. This tactic will ultimately hurt patients when new discoveries are never commercialized due to diminished incentives.
Bottom line: Standing between the patients and a cure for cancer is the FDA.
I think this is vey disturbing. Whose side is the FDA on? Obviously not the patient’s side.