The panel pointed out a number of aspects where communication must be improved, so that patients and legislators can better comprehend the value of medicines: - There is a need for regional harmonisation of regulations
- Risk - benefit ratio of taking a medicine
- Science takes time and includes a high risk of cost
It was acknowledged that the industry must become more efficient, but also that overregulation causes the industry to duplicate work. Another general opinion was that cross boundary differences in pricing have to be placed in the context of the health care systems and economic capabilities of the countries. Universal availability of medicines is a big challenge requiring a local infrastructure and staffing as well as affordable medicines.Industry can play a part but it will take a lot of effort from governments to make medicines available to the developing countries. “It needs to be emphasized that the risk of taking a medicine is relative to the risk posed by the disease”, commented John Patterson who agreed with the panel that it is misleading to the general public that safety issues often are sensationalised by media. The panel agreed that the opposite misconception is as common in media; a new discovery does not necessarily mean that a cure or a new treatment has been found. There is still a a huge amount of knowledge to be generated before a target becomes a medicine. The panel agreed that biotechnology is the key to a new generation of medicines and that things are moving more quickly as our understanding is improving. However, although frustrating, the time to market is still 12-15 years. “Most of the new biotechnology was introduced in the 1990’s,” said Dr Patterson, “with new targets and new ways of working. We are now just beginning to see the benefits of this.” One conclusion was that the general public, health-carers and legislators need to be educated around the time and financial investments that are needed to turn new targets into new medicines. The panel participants: - Morton M. Kondracke, Award-Winning Journalist, Fox News Contributor, Author and Television Co-Host (moderator)
- Dr. Peter B. Corr, Senior Vice President, Science & Technology, Pfizer Inc.
- Dr. Alan J. Lewis, President, Celgene
- Dr. John Patterson, Global Head of Drug Development, AstraZeneca
- Dr. Robert R. Ruffolo, Jr., President, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Inc
Published 14 July 2005 |