Pharmas aren't the enemy

09/01/2008
Posted by Gordon McVie, ecancer

While pharmas can often be seen to put profit before patients it must be remembered that many of the advanced life changing drugs which we take for granted nowadays would not exist without the huge capital reserves offered by large multinationals. Without their cutting-edge research in many cases we wouldn't have breakthroughs in cancer or heart disease which allow us to live longer happier lives.

Problems may arise however when pharmas try to pass the financial risk of unsuccessful drugs on to the consumer rather than absorb the risk themselves.

This should be a risk for their investors not the consumer: Current drug costs are too high especially considering the technological developments over the last few years.

On top of this both pharmas and academics would benefit from a much closer relationship:

It’s a simple matter of regulation more data needs to be open to all: At the moment only 20 per cent of all pharma data is published it should be 100 per cent. This spare data needs to be reinvested.

There has never been a more important time for academia to get back in bed with pharmas just over one thousand new molecules are in the pipeline. Half of these are being developed by companies and will not see the light of day unless we work with them.

So perhaps the oncology community would benefit by moving on from the idea that pharmaceuticals are adversaries a shift reflected in the EU’s recent decision to formally adopt the Innovative Medicines Initative.

The IMI is a unique partnership between the European Commission and the European pharmaceutical industry association EFPIA.

It is set to speed up discovery and development of better medicines and attract pharma investment in to Europe by bringing together public authorities regulators patients academia and industry.

By addressing key bottlenecks in the research and development of new drugs in the pre-competitive stage the IMI will challenge the status quo of drug discovery. It is a good example of how public and private partners can join forces to really make a difference and improve the health and wealth of European citizens.

While the IMI is a potential breakthrough on this topic consistent effort from both sides and from all fields is needed to ensure that the relationship between public and private remains sweet a situation which will benefit everyone especially the patient.

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26/06/2008 10:22:01
Comment by Anonymous

A valid point but it may be tricky to get sympathy from the general public as long as there are stories of pharmas putting profit in front of patients and the sheer amount of money being made by some (often not the people who actually make the critical discoveries!).

Aside from all that I'd like to see drug companies get involved with combating fake/imitation drugs which are doing a lot of damage particularly in countries with less strict regulations and controls. They also get into western countries - I get offered them by email almost every day! I expect a fake Viagra may not do you much harm but an elderly patient relying on their medicine might be in serious jeopardy by ineffective or sub-standard drugs.

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