Crisis and pharmaceutical industry
The crisis has reached the pharmacists
The release of important new medicines may be delayed
This statement was made on Wednesday by experts from Harvard University, the University of Massachusetts (USA), the University of Edinburgh and the Open University in the UK. Pharmaceutical companies are already stopping financing the development and testing of new drugs, being wary of future financial risks. According to analysts, those single new developments that were planned by domestic companies will also be frozen.
Clinical trials of drugs and new biotechnologies are particularly costly, since they involve, among other things, unsuccessful results.
In recent years, industry analysts have recorded a decline in the production of new drugs. Last year, the global pharmaceutical industry put only 31 new medicines on the market - this is the lowest figure in the last 30 years. Back in the late 80s of the last century, from 50 to 60 new products were brought to the pharmaceutical market every year. In 1990-2001, investments increased 2.5 times, but the number of new drugs entering the market also decreased by almost half. The number of drugs that have passed the stage of clinical trials (CI) has also decreased.
According to industry analysts, the total cost of developing a new drug in 1985 was $231 million, and in 2000 it approached $ 800 million. Today, research on a single drug formula for 10 years requires more than $1 billion.
In the 1990s, it was assumed that biotechnologies would lead to a huge increase in development and reduce the cost of creating new drugs. However, today biotech companies supply less than a third of pharmaceutical novelties to the market.
"I certainly agree with the general trend of economic cuts. Now it is difficult to get even a little money for a short period, let alone a lot of money for a long time. But it is unlikely that a reduction in investment in R&D will have a strong impact on Russians," Alexander Kuzin, CEO of DSM Group, commented on the concerns of Western specialists to the Gazeta correspondent. - In the Russian pharmaceutical market, the turnover of innovative drugs is 8-9%." At the same time, according to the expert, the situation will inevitably affect serious patients - they are waiting for new drugs that are in clinical trials. In his opinion, drug insurance will not be launched in Russia as quickly as planned by the state, either.
The colleague was supported by the operational manager of the international analytical company IMS, Maria Denisova, who believes that the reduction in investment will befall primarily investment-intensive projects. The same CI that are at the last (third) clinical stage of trials will not stop, because too many resources are invested in them.
This opinion was shared by Svetlana Zavidova, executive director of the Association of Organizations for Clinical Drug Research, who clarified that the voiced plans of government officials to receive "200 new drugs by 2020" as a result of reforming the pharmaceutical industry raise great doubts.
In the Russian representative offices of the largest Western companies, budget cuts for scientific research are also not confirmed. "So far, the focus of attention has not been removed from this direction," said Yulia Svetova, Media Relations Manager at Bayer Schering Pharma.
At Pfizer headquarters, the Gazeta correspondent was assured that "the global economic downturn has not had a significant impact on Pfizer's ability to function normally," and that "the portfolio of new developments includes an impressive number of high-potential R&D projects in several therapeutic areas with great market potential."
CI specialists also suggest not to panic. "With the general tendency to save resources, only small and medium-sized companies that conduct CI with credit money will really suffer," said Igor Stefanov, business Development Manager at Synergy Research Group. - Large manufacturers, taking advantage of the situation, will simply buy promising formulas from them and continue their research."
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru31.10.2008