Thursday, June 14, 2007

Drugs industry economics 'not sustainable' - report

The pharmaceutical industry business model is "economically unsustainable", according to a report by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers. The study suggested drug companies' reliance on heavy marketing of a few drugs in the hope of huge sales meant they were "operationally incapable" of acting quickly enough to produce innovative treatments demanded by global markets.

According to Steve Arlington, the main author, drug companies spend twice as much on research and development than 10 years ago, yet produce half as many drugs: 40 to 45% of medicines in phase 3 clinical trials, the last stage, now failed.

READ MORE @ THE GUARDIAN