1993 – End of the Pharmaceutical Industry as we know it.
- Clinton introduced regulation of rate of return.
- Stock prices plummeted by 40-50%
- Companies no longer incentivized to do Research and Development.
voodoo says,,, true to an extent. Not incentivized to do research on conventional disease, maintaining good health, or nutrition.
- Companies stopped focusing on R&D and started focusing on Marketing.
voodoo says true, to the extent that there are more people pushing crap on doctors than researchers developing it. true also to the extent that there is more crap available to push than ever before, thus research and development has declined. Costs have not skyrocketed nor have approval times. The number of approvals by the FDA has declined from 60 is a few years ago, to 17 or so last year. this is WAY more complicated than the author understands. american healthcare is a pie with everybody's finger in it.
Research costs in India are 20-30% of the US and can be developed in half the time.
This is true only to the extent that the research being done is only 5% of the quality of that done in western countries. most work being sent to india and china is of a low level to protect intellectual property interests. when factored for costs of infrastructure, it is pure garbage to suggest that there is any money to be made by manufacturing, researching or developing pharmaceuticals in either country.
cheap research grade intermediates that can be produced without consequence for health regulation and safety issues commonly found in western country are the principle drivers for research in india and china. however the quality of this "research" is a joke. most of it is in the development of basic materials needed for advanced projects in westernized countries, and will continue this way for quite sometime until developing countries can dictate the rules of how things be developed, researched etc. Right now, not so, and won't be so until the general populace can afford what they make.
with that said, there are a number of success stories(Coartem for example) and the trend is in favor of much more business heading to india, china, and brazil. But with the decline of western economies, and the forthcomming backlash from future economic fallout, one must be careful about using blanket cost analysis. particularly when the market for western "blockbuster" medications in these countries is still zero.
Fact is, most pharma manufacturing is being done in puerto rico, and ireland with good reason. Huge tax incentives, qualified workforce, convenient hours, and no language barriers.
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