The death rattle of an industry?
It seems that Big Pharma is spent, in terms of money-and energy. When it comes to producing new drugs, a lot of spending is taking place, but there is a meager return on the investment.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that annual research and development spending by the drug industry increased by 147 percent between 1993 and 2004, to a whopping $60 billion. New drug applications to the FDA grew by just 38 percent, which was noted as a general decline since 1999. To top it off, a good two-thirds of those new applications were for tweaks and modifications to existing medicines.
While different reasons were given for the decline, one in particular sticks out like a sore thumb: There is a huge emphasis on developing the next "blockbuster" drug that will bring in maximum profits. Which means that the pharmaceutical companies are throwing all of their eggs in one basket, and I don't need to point out to you that this is just not good judgment on their part if they want to stay in business.
Unfortunately, what this trend means to you and me is higher prices for drugs already on the market. The drug companies cry about how costly it is to develop new drugs, when they have actually painted themselves into the corner by focusing on only a select few. And if you actually look at how much initial research on drugs is actually performed by taxpayer-funded institutions such as universities, this industry poor-mouthing takes on an especially distasteful, inauthentic-if not downright dishonest-quality. All of those costs associated with banking on one huge success are then passed on to the consumer-you. I find that to be an outrageous justification.
And with an industry that is so profit-driven, it's no wonder that drugs are released onto the market entirely too soon, in my opinion. To make matters worse, these rush-jobs do more damage than good in so many cases, and these side effects aren't generally known until they are broadly "tested" in the general population-prescribed to patients who take them. When it comes to these drugs, the drug companies appear to glide by on a wing-and-a-prayer mentality that really hopes these patients won't experience such severe affects, even death, that would inconveniently hinder their profit potential. You have to wonder just how long an industry can survive doing business like that. I still believe that in the vast majority of cases, use of a new drug should be delayed for a full seven years until there's been a chance to establish some reasonable safety data.
