Longevity research

Hall SS. 2003. Longevity research. In vino vitalis Compounds activate life-extending genes. Science 301 1165. 

Pharmacotherapies contribute greatly to human health and longevity. As such, researchers in the public and private sectors make an enormous investment in drug design and refinement and preclinical and clinical testing. Such efforts often result in a marketed compound that expands the options for the treatment and prevention of human diseases. However, on rare occasions, medications associated with adverse effects - ranging from undesirable to potentially fatal - that greatly reduce or even eliminate their therapeutic utility reach the marketplace. 

In Chapter 12 Cremieux and his coauthors, based on a systematic review of the empirical evidence, conclude that international and country-specific studies as well as analyses of individual diseases all indicate that, since about 1950, the period covered by their review, investments in pharmaceutical products have generally been worthwhile investments. With rates of return over 10 to 1 based on measures of increased life expectancy alone, not even considering improved quality of life, pharmaceutical research has successfully provided developed countries with better health at a cost that has been far exceeded by the value of improved longevity. Not considering the value of improvements in quality of life, such as from reductions in pain, emotional health, and symptoms from short-term illnesses, should lead to a substantial underestimate of the value of health. 

Lichtenberg, Frank R., and SuchinVirabhak. 2002. Pharmaceutical Embodied Technical Progress, Longevity, and Quality of Life Drugs as Equipment for Your Health. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 9351. 

F. R. Lichtenberg, The Impact of New Drug Launches on Longevity Evidence from Longitudinal, Disease-Level Data from 52 Countries, 1982-2001, National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 9754. Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research, June 2003. 

Specialty chemicals are generally successful only if they are pushed into companies at the very cutting edge of each wave of technological advance. However, the developers also have to be able to create value from their investments in innovation, which requires both the scientific research to develop the chemicals in the first place, and also a business-focused mindset to ensure their longevity in the market. 

Moro T, Takatori Y, Ishihara K, Nakamura K, Kawaguchi H. Frank Stinchfield Award grafting of biocompatible polymer for longevity of artificial hip joints. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research 2006, 453, 58-63. 

---