Hmmm... let me think about that... Could it hape something to do with the fact that is take 10-15 years to bring a drug from inception to the market? Could it have anything to do with tha fact that drug makers have to spend hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars to research, discover, then clinically develop new drugs?
No. Could it?
From Times Online (UK):
Drug chiefs now set aside at least $1 billion (£570 million) to bring a new medicine to the market, a budget that reflects not only the cost of ensuring that drugs are safe and efficacious, but also the expense of launching new treatments commercially.
For every 10,000 chemical compounds under development, one will be approved for sale to the public. It will take between 10 and 15 years to develop, leaving its owners less than five years before generic drug makers are allowed to produce a cheaper version. In those five years, a drug developer must make enough profit to recover costs and replenish its research budget.
Now before you go on complaining that the pharmaceutical industry is making cash hand over fist, I just want to remind you that they are spending cash hand over fist trying to discover/research/develop the next new drug.
And why do we do it? (I say we because I am a chemist, on the frontline of R&D for a pharmaceutical company.) We do it not because we want to be gazillionaires, but because we have a love of two things:
- Compassion. We want to help ease the suffering in the world. If one of our drugs makes life more livable for just one person, then we have done our job correctly.
- Knowledge. We are scientists (well many of us are) and love to learn. One of the last vast frontiers of the unknown is our own bodies. By doing the work that we do, we learn more about ourselves.
So wake up!
Sure drugs are expensive. Weigh out the costs of disease and tell me which is more expensive, the treating the disease or not treating it.
I should also point out that across this marble we call Earth, there are many who can't afford to eat, let alone buy medicine. Many, in fact I would hazard to say most, pharmaceutical companies have programs to get needed medicines to those in need, at low or no cost.
So essentially, the pharmaceutical industry is a losing proposition. If we make a drug, we have >5 years before it goes off patent and the generics come along undercutting our development costs, so we have to charge those who can afford to pay for them. When we give drugs to those persons in need, be it first world or third world, we are belittled for the effort, told that our aim is not the greater good, but enhancing corporate image.
I would apologize for the rant, but it would be fake. I am tired of the industry (which does have its bad guys) taking hit after hit. You can not have it both ways. You want drugs? Give the industry the ability to recoup development losses. Or leave the laws the way the are and stop whining about drug costs!