This week in his blog about
the Pharma industry ‘In the Pipeline’ Derek Lowe discusses the trend toward
increasingly high drug prices especially with regard to new drugs for
cancer. Refuting a post in Forbes by Peter Bach, “Cancer:
Unpronounceable Drugs, Incomprehensible Prices” Lowe trots out the old arguments
about research costs and patent lifetimes being the root of extreme drug
prices. Bach says that drug companies charge what they think they can get away
with. Lowe says, so what, so do all other corporations.
Usually I think that Lowe’s
blog is excellent and often right on target about important issues in Pharma.
However, here I think that he really misses the point. Drugs are not like potato
chips. There really isn’t a free market of informed sellers and buyers. Drug prices
need to conform to societal goals (better heath) rather than exclusively profit
considerations.
The bottom line really is
that drug development is too important to be left solely to an industry that is
exclusively driven by greed. We need to
start looking at new modes of drug discovery and development that are driven by
health needs and not by the need to boost stock prices and CEO bonuses.
Also see:
Pharmaceutical Innovation and Public
Policy (ASIN: B00B79ULRK) Kindle ebooks
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