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Like other products resulting from research, medicines are really
made of knowledge -- a kind of intellectual property capable of
preventing and curing diseases as well as relieving the pain of a
headache. For every 5,000 medicines developed, only five make it
to clinical trials. Only one of those is eventually approved for
use. Revenues from the one successful medicine must cover the
research and development cost of the 4,999 that don't make it. The
average cost of R and D is close to $1 billion, and it takes between
12 and 17 years -- much of that time spent complying with government
regulations.
The time a brand-name drug has to recoup the cost is shrinking.
The patent protection clock starts ticking when a drug first goes
into R and D. For a drug taking 12 years to develop during a 15-year
patent agreement, the pharmaceutical company has just three years to
recoup its investment. As the population ages, the costs of caring
for more people will escalate.
[to top of second column in this article]
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 Every government proposal affecting health care policy should be
judged on whether it would encourage or discourage the remarkable
progress brought about by drug research.
[Conrad F. Meier; published in
"It's Your Health"]
Conrad Meier, senior fellow in health policy at
The Heartland Institute, wrote
"It's Your Health," produced as a public service by Radio America.
Meier died unexpectedly on March 18.
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