C&EN examines how the pharmaceutical industry, now on the defensive, is trying to win back the public's confidence and enhance productivity"For all the benefits they bring, the pharmaceutical industry's biggest companies... increasingly face a conflict between the goals of corporate wealth and public health." So says the blurb on the cover of "Big Pharma: Exposing the Global Healthcare Agenda," a 2006 book by Jacky Law, a pharmaceutical journalist.
Fundamental changes erupt across the industry as companies strive to improve drug efficacy and safety and R&D efficiency in the face of negative public opinionJohn LaMattina is as methodical as you would expect the head of research and development at the world's largest drug company to be. Talking to C&EN at Pfizer's New York City headquarters, he is prepared with informative anecdotes catered to dismissing criticism of the industry point by point.
To eliminate R&D bottlenecks, drug companies are evaluating all phases of discovery and development and are using novel approaches to speed them up.Over the past decades, there have been many break–throughs in the discovery and development of new medications to treat diseases. Yet a number of devastating human ailments still cannot be treated effectively with drugs.
Strong action on drug safety and pricing is more likely to come from states than from Congress or FDABroad segments of U.S society are now deeply concerned about certain trends in the pharmaceutical industry. At the same time, public trust in the Food & Drug Administration has been declining, as blockbuster medicines, such as the arthritis drug Vioxx, have been withdrawn from the market, and some heavily prescribed antidepressants have been found dangerous for adolescents.
