Global Responses: The Search for Cures in the Development of Pharmaceuticals

Abstract

In this article, Professor Stuart Walker examines several challenges that will be faced by the global pharmaceutical industry in the near future. These involve the question of improving the overall quality of life and care for millions in an era of cost containment. In order to respond to the increasing demands for advances in medicine while simultaneously retaining an industrially strong, innovative, and resilient economy, responsibility for the necessary changes will need to be shared among governments, the pharmaceutical industry, and health care professionals. In particular, four challenges faced by the global pharmaceutical industry and their responses to each are discussed The first of these is the need for the industry to secure sufficient revenue from marketed products, so that they may both remain profitable and be able to invest in research and development to facilitate the creation of new medicines. The second challenge arises out of that research and development and involves the production of innovative medicines for the treatment or prevention of diseases for which there is no adequate treatment. Once these new medicines are developed, the third challenge faced by the industry is to bring the new medicines to market in a more rapid and efficient manner. Achieving this third goal is closely intertwined with the final challenge: restructuring the regulation of medicines to ensure the rapid review of new drug applications to get these new medicines to market. Although much remains to be done in achieving these goals, Professor Walker notes that the global pharmaceutical industry is taking decisive steps to approach these challenges and his article operates as a framework for continued progression