Non-profit Drug Research and Development at a Crossroads

In wealthy nations, non-profit drug R&D has been proposed to reduce the prices of medicines. We sought to review the ethical and economic issues concerning non-profit drug R&D companies, and the possible impact that their pricing strategy may have on the innovation efforts from for-profit co...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pharmaceutical research 2018-03, Vol.35 (3), p.52-6, Article 52
Main Authors: Jarosławski, Szymon, Toumi, Mondher, Auquier, Pascal, Dussart, Claude
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adalimumab
Biochemistry
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering
Biomedicine
Business competition
Commerce - economics
Commerce - ethics
Drug Development - economics
Drug Development - ethics
Drug Development - methods
Drying
Ethics
Industrial research
Innovations
Ivacaftor
Medical Law
Medium term notes
Models, Economic
Nonprofit organizations
Organizations, Nonprofit - economics
Organizations, Nonprofit - ethics
Perspective
Pharmaceutical Research - economics
Pharmaceutical Research - ethics
Pharmaceutical Research - methods
Pharmacology/Toxicology
Pharmacy
Prices and rates
Profits
R&D
Research & development
Sustainability
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In wealthy nations, non-profit drug R&D has been proposed to reduce the prices of medicines. We sought to review the ethical and economic issues concerning non-profit drug R&D companies, and the possible impact that their pricing strategy may have on the innovation efforts from for-profit companies targeting the same segment of the pharmaceutical market. There are two possible approaches to pricing drugs developed by non-profit R&D programs: pricing that maximises profits and “affordable” pricing that reflects the cost of manufacturing and distribution, plus a margin that ensures sustainability of the drug supply. Overall, the non-profits face ethical challenges - due to the lack of resources, they are unable to independently commercialize their products on a large scale; however, the antitrust law does not permit them to impose prices on potential licensees. Also, reduced prices for the innovative products may result in drying the for-profit R&D in the area.
ISSN:0724-8741
1573-904X
DOI:10.1007/s11095-018-2351-3