Drug industry in "depression".
The productivity crisis in pharmaceuticals is an important problem that should be seriously addressed by academic scientists and NIH administrators. It is true that most academic scientists avidly practice the reductionist approach and tend to neglect the big picture. However, in light of the crisis, that should change. To stimulate such a change, scientists should see publications addressing big picture issues, and specifically publications which present analyses of the productivity crisis in pharmaceuticals. Although the public media recently published a series of articles reporting the crisis, so far, the peer-reviewed professionaljournals tended to avoid the issue. There seems to be a consensus that there is no successful drug discovery without reasonable biology. The Drug industry in "Depression" paper provides an opportunity to balance the picture and entice discussions on the relationships between academic research practices, NIH policies, and success in drug discovery. Academia and the drug industry must adopt a unified biomedical research approach rather than a multitude of what appears to be unrelated reduction methodologies, especially the basic science/biology end of it.
Almog
Dov M
DM
University of Rochester Eastman Dental Center, Rochester, NY 14620, USA. dov_almog@urmc.rochester.edu
D000047:Academies and Institutes / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends*; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends*; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000639:trends; D012109:Research Support as Topic / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends