PHARMACOLOGY & THE
PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
A
truly new drug (one that does not simply mimic the structure and action of
previously available drugs) requires the discovery of a new drug target, ie, the pathophysiologic process
or substrate of a disease. Such discoveries are usually made in public sector
insti-tutions (universities and research institutes), and the molecules that
have beneficial effects on such targets are often discovered in the same
laboratories. However, the development
of new drugs usu-ally takes place in industrial laboratories because
optimization of a class of new drugs requires painstaking and expensive
chemical, pharmacologic, and toxicologic research. In fact, much of the recent
progress in the application of drugs to disease problems can be ascribed to the
pharmaceutical industry including “big pharma,” the multibillion-dollar
corporations that specialize in drug discov-ery and development. As described,
these companies are uniquely skilled in exploiting discoveries from academic
and governmental laboratories and translating these basic findings into
commercially successful therapeutic breakthroughs.
Such
breakthroughs come at a price, however, and the escalat-ing cost of drugs has
become a significant contributor to the inflationary increase in the cost of
health care. Development of new drugs is enormously expensive, and to survive
and prosper, big pharma must pay the costs of drug development and market-ing
and return a profit to its shareholders. Today, considerable controversy
surrounds drug pricing. Critics claim that the costs of development and
marketing are grossly inflated by marketing activities, which may consume as
much as 25% or more of a com-pany’s budget in advertising and other promotional
efforts. Furthermore, profit margins for big pharma have historically exceeded
all other industries by a significant factor. Finally, pricing schedules for
many drugs vary dramatically from country to coun-try and even within
countries, where large organizations can negotiate favorable prices and small
ones cannot. Some countries have already addressed these inequities, and it
seems likely that all countries will have to do so during the next few decades.
Related Topics
Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, DMCA Policy and Compliant
Copyright © 2018-2023 BrainKart.com; All Rights Reserved. Developed by Therithal info, Chennai.