Friday, April 15, 2005
"Me-too" drugs not without value
[Press Release, "Pharmocoevolution: the benefits of incremental innovation," The International Policy Network, 16 March 2005.]
The Center for Pharmaceutical Health Services Research at Temple University and The International Policy Network teamed up to provide this intriguinig look at the benefits of much-maligned me-too drugs - those that are similar, but slightly different, from existing medications. Their conclusion? Not surprisingly, the market is achieving gains in spite of the naysayers:
Incremental improvements to medicines are fundamental to enhancing the overall quality of health care. Many of the resulting medicines are inevitably very similar to existing treatments, treating the same ailment(s) in a similar way. Some have claimed that investment in the development of such drugs is wasteful.
However, these drugs often have subtle pharmacological differences which make them more appropriate for specific groups of patients. Some have fewer side effects with certain patients, which confers all manner of advantages, including better compliance and consequently reduced resistance. Others are more efficacious for particular patients. Furthermore, most of the drugs that exist today are the result of a long process of incremental innovation.
From an economic standpoint, increasing the number of medicines within a class results in lower drug prices because it increases competition between manufacturers. Furthermore, pharmaceutical companies depend on incremental innovations to provide the revenue that will support the development of more risky “block-buster” drugs. Policies that aim to curb incremental innovation will ultimately lead to a reduction in the overall quality of medicines in existing classes of drugs, and may ultimately hinder the creation of genuinely novel drugs.
[Press Release, "Pharmocoevolution: the benefits of incremental innovation," The International Policy Network, 16 March 2005.]
The Center for Pharmaceutical Health Services Research at Temple University and The International Policy Network teamed up to provide this intriguinig look at the benefits of much-maligned me-too drugs - those that are similar, but slightly different, from existing medications. Their conclusion? Not surprisingly, the market is achieving gains in spite of the naysayers:
Incremental improvements to medicines are fundamental to enhancing the overall quality of health care. Many of the resulting medicines are inevitably very similar to existing treatments, treating the same ailment(s) in a similar way. Some have claimed that investment in the development of such drugs is wasteful.
However, these drugs often have subtle pharmacological differences which make them more appropriate for specific groups of patients. Some have fewer side effects with certain patients, which confers all manner of advantages, including better compliance and consequently reduced resistance. Others are more efficacious for particular patients. Furthermore, most of the drugs that exist today are the result of a long process of incremental innovation.
From an economic standpoint, increasing the number of medicines within a class results in lower drug prices because it increases competition between manufacturers. Furthermore, pharmaceutical companies depend on incremental innovations to provide the revenue that will support the development of more risky “block-buster” drugs. Policies that aim to curb incremental innovation will ultimately lead to a reduction in the overall quality of medicines in existing classes of drugs, and may ultimately hinder the creation of genuinely novel drugs.
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