Our medicines. Our labs. Our responsibility.
guest commentary
By: Timothy A. Bouley and Richard Waters
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: Columns
Last update: 4/4/08 at 6:54 AM EST
Last update: 4/4/08 at 6:54 AM EST
One, there are sick people in the world.
Two, sick people need medicine.
Three, we have medicine.
Four, we can make these medicines available to these sick people (at no cost to us).
Five, sick people get better.
Straightforward enough, right? Right. Well, sort of. The basic concepts are easy enough, it's just number four that can be a little tricky.
Duke is one of the leading scientific research institutions in the world, and we devote hundreds of millions of dollars every year to understanding biological pathways and developing new pharmaceutical compounds. With a little luck (and a lot of hard work), our researchers discover and patent new drugs that are then licensed out to large corporations for development and distribution. Because these drugs are often difficult and expensive to produce, the pharmaceutical companies who contract with drug discoverers at Duke build in clauses that guarantee their exclusive privilege to produce the drugs-effectively securing their financial interests and assuring that other companies won't come along and produce/sell the drug for cheaper.
Fair enough. A market-based licensing process for a market-based economy. There is, however, one slight problem with this current model: the goods are only accessible to those who are capable of contributing to our market. The fact that market commodities like automobiles, clothing, or furniture produced in America are very expensive to people living in an undeveloped or developing country simply means that they cannot buy them. The same, unfortunately, is true for drugs.
The components of drug development: basic science research, clinical trials and meeting stringent safety standards can cost hundreds of millions of dollars for a single drug. As a result, drugs are very expensive to consumers. In America, many are fortunate enough to have insurance to cover the cost of these expensive life-saving therapies. People who live in poorer countries often don't have the same luxury. The cost of a single drug may, as for some HIV/AIDS medications, be more than an entire year's salary.
Two, sick people need medicine.
Three, we have medicine.
Four, we can make these medicines available to these sick people (at no cost to us).
Five, sick people get better.
Straightforward enough, right? Right. Well, sort of. The basic concepts are easy enough, it's just number four that can be a little tricky.
Duke is one of the leading scientific research institutions in the world, and we devote hundreds of millions of dollars every year to understanding biological pathways and developing new pharmaceutical compounds. With a little luck (and a lot of hard work), our researchers discover and patent new drugs that are then licensed out to large corporations for development and distribution. Because these drugs are often difficult and expensive to produce, the pharmaceutical companies who contract with drug discoverers at Duke build in clauses that guarantee their exclusive privilege to produce the drugs-effectively securing their financial interests and assuring that other companies won't come along and produce/sell the drug for cheaper.
Fair enough. A market-based licensing process for a market-based economy. There is, however, one slight problem with this current model: the goods are only accessible to those who are capable of contributing to our market. The fact that market commodities like automobiles, clothing, or furniture produced in America are very expensive to people living in an undeveloped or developing country simply means that they cannot buy them. The same, unfortunately, is true for drugs.
The components of drug development: basic science research, clinical trials and meeting stringent safety standards can cost hundreds of millions of dollars for a single drug. As a result, drugs are very expensive to consumers. In America, many are fortunate enough to have insurance to cover the cost of these expensive life-saving therapies. People who live in poorer countries often don't have the same luxury. The cost of a single drug may, as for some HIV/AIDS medications, be more than an entire year's salary.
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