Pharmaceutical research has changed. There’s the soaring price of drug development, the dearth of blockbuster drugs, and the precipitous drop in patents. That does not include the megamergers that have occurred over the past decade. Only 11 of the 42 large firms that were members of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturer’s Association (PhRMA) 13 years ago survive today. The pharmaceutical firms have lost favor on Wall Street- with their market capitalization decimated. That’s true even though the sales of the top 10 drugs have doubled in the past decade and the number of biologics in the top 10 has risen (and will dominate the top 10 soon enough). The number of blockbuster drugs launched has not really changed- but their value has dropped.
Obviously, it’s easy to pick on Pfizer. Its blockbuster drug, Lipitor, is now off-patent. And, they are desperately trying to hold on to market share with techniques such as a special card to let you buy Lipitor at a discount. But, it’s more than that- way more than that. Pfizer has gobbled up Upjohn and Warner Lambert. Those two firms had large research facilities (Upjohn’s Kalamazoo operation is a wasteland, the WL facility in Ann Arbor is now part of the University of Michigan) with (then) large employment. They’re gone. The Groton Research facility (CT) that Pfizer had is also being cut back. Eric Lander, a mathematician (yes, a PhD in math) seems to have the answer. He believes that the future of pharma will come from large, interdisciplinary teams collaborating, rather than with research groups focused on one discipline operating within a lab. And, he’s getting the funding to prove he’s right.
Lander, valedictorian of Princeton and a Rhodes Scholar with a PhD from Oxford at 22, founded the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. That’s after teaching managerial economics at the Harvard Business School (a self-taught subject). But, that bored him. So, he branched out to biology and took a leave of absence from HBS. And, then moved to MIT, where he worked with Dr. David Botstein (who has since left MIT for Genentech), inventing a computer algorithm to analyze gene maps in record time (minutes, not months). With a nomination by Botstein and David Baltimore (Nobel Laureate, Whitehead Institute of MIT), Lander got a MacArthur genius grant at 30 (1987), which he used to study the human genome.
By 2002, he met with Eli and Edythe Broad, who agreed to donate $ 10 million a year for a decade to start the Broad Institute. And, then, they doubled their gift in 2004 and raised $ 400 million more to totally endow the institute by 2008. There are 1800 scientists (from MIT, Harvard, and their associated hospitals) involved with the Broad Institute, as of today. Given that it is devoted to discerning the basis of various diseases, as well as transforming the development of therapeutics, we can look forward to some very interesting developments. And, proof that one’s academic credentials can be pushed to pursue new careers.
To me the big item is the increase in research to cure hypertension. What does this say about our society?
David @ Zoomit recently posted..Retirement? Not Likely for me
Not sure we will use drugs to cure hypertension- but treat it better, hopefully.
We need to do this for many reasons- and, yes, that also means we need to slim down. Being overweight means we will more than likely have hypertension.
But, hypertension is an issue for Blacks, in general. There is a genetic component. Hypertension is also age related- the older we get, the more likely we succumb to it.
And hypertension leads to kidney failure and cardiac issues. They are much harder to treat. Why not start with the precursor that may prove easier to handle- and alleviate the other issues.
Great example of how one person can make a difference.
Nicole Bandes recently posted..Customer (Dis)Service or How NOT to Get More Business in the New Economy
Thanks for your comment, Nicole!
The late and very great Laura Ziskin, a prolific and award winning film producer, started Stand Up to Cancer to generate a new paradigm in cancer research – non-competitive, pooling of information and expertise. Her TED talk is amazing. She took what she knew about film…that we cannot possibly make one if none of the departments with different expertise communicate. Stand Up to Cancer is a cooperative model as is LiveStrong’s Centers of Excellence…eight designated cancer treatment centers receiving major grant funding with the caveat that they share amongst themselves.
The old competitive model of racing to beat others to find a cure, develop a drug, etc. simply doesn’t work. Read “Patient Number One” for one of the greatest travesties in the history of cancer treatments where competition and wrongly applied patent law buried a process that could have saved thousands and thousands of lives by now. Paradigms fill up and we must continue to expand our thinking…THIS is evolution!
Tambre Leighn/coaching by tambre recently posted..Oprah’s Lesson on Authentic Communication
Thanks for sharing that story, Tambre.
For those wanting to find out more, the website for StandUp2Cancer is found here: http://standup2cancer.org/
The book, by David Fisher, can be found here.
I can’t say much but this : An absolutely commendable example of making things work and moving towards what one dreams of.
Hajra recently posted..Will they call you over for a bloggers party?
That was my thought exactly, too, Hajra!
Thanks for the comments.
Roy
Always a change starts with one person. One person who sees beyond the BS and persists with their opinion.
Roy you make people aware of situations in ways that they are unlikely to see otherwise. Thank you
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Thank you so much for your kind comments, Roberta!
Science progression with regards to medicines that lead to cancer eradication and other fatal diseases would be most welcomed. I am a supporter of StandUp2Cancer.
Glad to hear that, PeggyLee!
Thanks for visiting and commenting.
Roy
I do believe that one person can make a difference. I personally think that Americans take way too many drugs and part of this is a result of all the drug advertising on television. Drug dealers on the street go to jail and drug dealers on TV get rich.
Janette Fuller recently posted..Kindle Books For Kids: Little Library Mouse
It’s not clear to me that we overemploy antibiotics- unless one includes what we feed animals. I would venture to say that the purveyors of those “natural” remedies (the ones that skirt the regulation of the FDA) may be the ones getting the richest off the least valuable offerings.
Roy
Wow Nice to know about this Roy, I cant imagine they make some example of this Medic..
Fatima Hipolito recently posted..נטורופתיה
I understand that his concept is going strong, Fatima. And, now with pretty stable funding, we’ll have to see where it ends up.
Roy
Yeah that’s right Roy, Thanks for the info, I hope this will be a good work to them..
Fatima Hipolito recently posted..נטורופתיה