Lessons from 60 years of pharmaceutical innovation.
Despite unprecedented investment in pharmaceutical research and development (R&D), the number of new drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) remains low. To help understand this conundrum, this article investigates the record of pharmaceutical innovation by analysing data on the companies that introduced the approximately 1,200 new drugs that have been approved by the FDA since 1950. This analysis shows that the new-drug output from pharmaceutical companies in this period has essentially been constant, and remains so despite the attempts to increase it. This suggests that, contrary to common perception, the new-drug output is not depressed, but may simply reflect the limitations of the current R&D model. The implications of these findings and options to achieve sustainability for the pharmaceutical industry are discussed.
Munos
Bernard
B
Lilly Corporate Center, Indianapolis, Indiana 46285, USA. b.munos@lilly.com
D017277:Drug Approval / Q000266:history / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015195:Drug Design; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000266:history / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D012106:Research / Q000266:history / Q000639:trends*; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration