Sometimes they're just the same old, same old. Me too drugs.
It’s expensive to produce an innovative drug. On average, the bill runs to more than $400 million. So drug companies often take a less costly route to create a new product. They chemically rejigger an oldie but goodie, craft a new name, mount a massive advertising campaign and sell the retread as the latest innovative breakthrough.
This strategy has shown great success for turning profits. Nexium, a “me-too” drug for stomach acid, has earned $3.9 billion for its maker, AstraZeneca, since it went on the market in 2001. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration classified three-fourths of the 119 drugs it approved last year as similar to existing ones in chemical makeup or therapeutic value.
But in the end, the real question is about pharmaceutical innovation. While me-toos fill the development pipeline, the benefits flow largely to the haves of this world. Few resources go toward drugs targeting diseases that primarily affect developing nations. So, what about the rest of the world?
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STANFORD
