DJ Hero Review
A laptop generating a little too much waste heat (Photo: secumem via Wikipedia Commons) Harnessing waste heat to produce electricity
The Snowtunnel - an indoor snowboarding experience. Snowboarding through the summertime: the Snowtunnel
The ECOS Harbinger - a simple, no-fuss electric supercar. The ECOS Harbinger - an electric, Euro-styled supercar for under US$90,000
The nanoscale resonators developed at Cornell can exert relatively strong forces on tiny p... Light resonators used to move nano-sized objects
Nissan's LandGlider Narrow track vehicles - the convergence of the car and the motorcycle
MORE TOP STORIES »
HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Solving the drug price crisis

By Mike Hanlon

00:34 March 24, 2008 PDT

Page: 1 2 3

Solving the drug price crisis

Solving the drug price crisis

Following the utility model, Finkelstein and Temin propose establishing an independent, public, non-profit Drug Development Corporation (DDC), which would act as an intermediary between the two new industry segments -- just as the electric grid acts as an intermediary between energy generators and distributors.

The DDC also would serve as a mechanism for prioritizing drugs for development, noted Finkelstein.

"It is a two-level program in which scientists and other experts would recommend to decision-makers which kinds of drugs to fund the most. This would insulate development decisions from the political winds," he said.

Finkelstein and Temin's plan would also insulate drug development from the blockbuster mentality, which drives companies to invest in discovering a billion-dollar drug to offset their costs.

An example of the blockbuster mentality is developing a new drug for hypertension, one that varies only slightly from those already on the market, but that can bring in huge profits if aggressively marketed.

For Finkelstein, a physician, and Temin, an economist, societal needs for medicines are swiftly extending beyond national boundaries: Diseases affecting the developing world--afflicting people too poor to make drug development attractive for businesses--will soon affect health inside the United States.

"Global travel and climate change both require that U.S. drug development and innovation policy rethink the way drugs are developed, and for whom. Air travel, migrations, a global workforce--all these mean unusual diseases could become usual here," Temin noted.

Climate change also may affect drugs their proposed DDC would select for funding.

...continued

Page: 1 2 3

Post a Comment

Login with your gizmag account:




Or Login with Facebook:


Connect

Related Articles Email this article to a friend

Just enter your friends and your email address into the form below ...




Privacy is safe with us because we have a strict privacy policy.

Recent popular articles in Health and Wellbeing
Recent Comments