Are there really any more ‘blockbuster’ medicines to be discovered?

The trajectory of the current system suggests they are decreasing. Rising prices combined with an aging population, demographic growth and falling therapeutic benefit make for an unsustainable system. The past decades have seen an increase in the price of medicines, and a decrease in the therapeutic benefits associated with new innovations.1 Projections suggest these trends will continue.

  1. Rabah Kamal and Cynthia Cox “What Are the Recent and Forecasted Trends in Prescription Drug Spending?” Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker; “Health Spending Explorer” Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker; “A Look Back at Pharmaceuticals in 2006: Aggressive Advertising Cannot Hide the Absence of Therapeutic Advances”; “New Products and New Indications in 2016: A System That Favours Imitation over the Pursuit of Real Progress.” [return]