What’s Wrong With the Drug Industry?
The number of new molecules approved per billion dollars of inflation-adjusted R&D has declined inexorably at 9% a year and is now 1/100th of what it was in 1950. The nine biggest drug companies spend more than $60 billion a year on R&D but are finding new therapies at such a slow rate that, as a group, they’ve little chance of recouping that money.
Meanwhile, blockbuster drugs are losing patent protection at an accelerating rate. The next few years will take the industry over a “patent cliff” of $170 billion in global annual revenue. On top of this, natural selection is producing resistant disease strains that undermine the efficacy not only of existing antibiotics and antivirals but (even faster) of anti-cancer drugs. Many people believe that something is terribly wrong with the way the industry works.
Full article on the decline of pharmaceutical innovation.
What’s wrong? How about too much government regulation?
Maybe Congress can pass a law to force drug companies to give us new, better therapies. The only reason drug companies exist in the first place is because of the “social contract” we provide, so they owe us.
It goes without saying that any new drug therapies should be given out free to everyone. It is immoral for drug companies to make money from sick people.
The bar at the FDA is getting higher. But also we’ve probably picked the low hanging fruit in terms of miolecules.
I would bet that the costs of research have gone up as well. Back in the 1950’s, I bet a decent research set-up cost you a couple hundred bucks and a spot in your garage. Now, I’m sure you could spend millions and still not have the right facility.
We might see a renaissance in research if we’re able to create lower-cost alternatives to the current research structure. It might be like computer coding whereby it’s gotten much much cheaper to build websites. Now everyone is doing it.
Fascinating article.