Research, cost

We are now in a position to consider the costs of drug development and then to look at the impact of the pharmaceutical industry as a whole on the health and economic situation of the nation. 

The very long delay in recovering research expenditure is illustrated graphically by the case of British company which began operations in 1936. Twenty-three years elapsed before it moved into a profitable situation. It is estimated that to start a similar business today with the same delay in return would cost at least 600 m in 1984 currency. 

It is estimated that in 1983 the pharmaceutical industry in Britain spent 519 m on R and D. The corresponding figure for 1960 was 8 m. This change reflects both real growth of about eightfold over the period and an eightfold inflation. 

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Before the detailed agency recommendations are presented, some general comments will be made about future research costs. 

Hydrilla vertlcillata (family Hydrocharitaceae) was introduced to the United States from Africa by way of South America (1). Since the 1960 s, the plant has become a major nuisance in Florida, a state in which hydrilla does not suffer a winter die-back each year. For example, it is estimated that approximately 40,000 hectares of the State s waterways are directly affected by heavy hydrilla growth (2) necessitating the expenditure of millions of dollars annually for control and research. Costs are not only economic but environmental as well because hydrilla Is able to compete successfully with native submerged plants and to displace them in some situations (3). 

Pear, R., "Research Cost For New Drugs Said to Soar," New York Times, Cl (Dec. 1, 2001). 

Market analysis, of a technology, 24 365 Marketing, of food additives, 12 37 Marketing research, 15 630—631, 638-643. See also Market research costs of, 15 639 data analysis for, 15 639-640 methodology of, 15 638-639 presentation and use of results of, 15 643 Marketing research organizations,... 

See also Marketing research cost elements in, 15 636 data analysis in, 15 636-637 methodology of, 15 632—636 presentation and use of results in, 15 637-638... 

More recendy, inspired by the impact of combinatorial chemistry on the drug development process and the desire to lower research costs, interest in approaches to efficient materials investigations has enjoyed a resurgence. [7] Xiang and coworkers [8]... 

There are two ways of approaching the question of the productivity function and the cost function, which of course are duals of one another, and the economic literature deals with both. Except in perverse circumstances, conclusions regarding one have direct implications for the other. This principle applies to research costs and to research productivity. The increasing research cost of new drugs is directly related to the declining productivity of pharmaceutical R D. 

More recently, DiMasi, Hansen, and Grabowski (2003) employ a similar methodology to provide updated estimates of research costs. They examine development expenditures for a sample of 68 randomly selected new drugs introduced by 10 leading pharmaceutical companies during the 1990s. These firms accounted for 42% of industry R D expenditures (p. 157). They then... 

While their previous study estimated R D expenditures per new drug at 231 million in 1987 dollars, their more recent one provides an estimate of 802 million in 2000 dollars. These figures indicate sharply higher costs for new product development. From this vantage point as well, the growth of a science-based research effort has not reduced research costs but led to higher ones. 

CEC (Commission of the Enropean Coimnnnities) (1976) European Cooperation and Coordination in the Field of Scientific Technical Research, COST-Project 64b. A Comprehensive List of Polluting Substances Which Have Been Identified in Various Waters, Effluent Discharges, Aquatic Animals and Plants, and Bottom Sediments 2nd Ed., (EUCO/MDU/ 13H6), Lnxembonig, p. 39... 

Whaf are the consequences of exposure Basic epidemiological information has classic public-good attributes. Those who conduct basic research have difficulty restricting its consumption to those who contributed to the research costs. But once it is developed, private markets disseminate the knowledge through newspapers, magazines, and even television. 

Among physicochemical properties, the stability of drug candidates is receiving increasing attention. Unfortunately, its evaluation very often requires a lot of experimental time and profiling of many molecules would be nearly impossible without new, computer-aided methods. Any effort useful to facilitate this first part of pharmaceutical investigation is appreciated because it can be converted to a considerable lowering of the research cost. 

Many reasons, such as the expectation of a hostile media response, local political considerations, international pressures, or even personal aggrandizement can explain why poor-country politicians do not always do what is, seemingly, best for their people.4 There are probably thousands of examples of these decisions, such as recent rejections of well-planned, needed dam construction projects because of environmental destruction that accompanied poorly planned dams in years past. Although it s relatively easy and inexpensive to discover anecdotal examples of such decisions, few such decisions have been analyzed and documented, probably because research costs are so high. Careful, properly documented analyses are particularly rare in the environmental field. 

The main goals of a biologic bank, or biorepository, are to make future analysis of currently unknown biomarkers possible and to minimize research costs of future studies by using previously collected specimens. A... 

As noted in a review, no economical chemical process has emerged for the asymmetric synthesis of amino acids.3 This presumably refers to large-scale production where the research costs associated with the development of a biological approach can be justified. Chemical methods can produce racemic substrates, as illustrated later in this chapter with L-methionine and D-phenylglycine. With methods in place, however, biological methods can be implemented rapidly.4... 

Linkage Physical merging of health and exposure data sets to explore research questions and conduct ecological analyses Can be completed in a relatively short period of time, often at reduced research cost Completeness of case ascertainment varies by type (active versus passive) of surveillance... 

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