[TheForge] New Pharmaceuticals/YAK

[Bruce Freeman]

When was that written?  Zantac is available over the counter now at about 1/4 that price.

And I wouldn't trust NIH on money issues.  They're a govt. agency.  What do they know about the cost of bringing a drug TO MARKET?  They've never done it!

"First I assume that anything I don't know how to do is easy."  (Dilbert's pointy-haired boss planning a schedule.)

NIH does a lot of good.  But discovering a drug and doing some testing on it DOES NOT get it to market.  

And as for spending money on campaigns, lobbying, etc.  I take no blame.  I'm FOR term limits.  Until we get those, we'll have the bet Congress money can buy.

Bruce
NJ

>>> schade at acegroup.cc 9/30/2004 11:20:55 AM >>>

On Sep 30, 2004, at 8:44 AM, Bruce Freeman wrote:

>
> You get what you pay for.
>
> Bruce
> NJ
______________________

The problem is you have to pay twice.

Bob
_____

Your Taxes Fund the Drug Industry

By Anjetta McQueen

  More than half the money needed to create top-selling prescription 
drugs came from U.S. taxpayers and not industry investment.

  Best sellers like the ulcer-curing Zantac or Zovirax, which treats 
herpes simplex, were developed and tested chiefly through grants from 
the National Institutes of Health. Out of 131  studies, clinical trials 
and other tests on five best sellers from 1995, the NIH deemed only one 
industry study as key to a drug's development for use and sale.

And taxpayers paid again at the counter, contend advocates who released 
the NIH document. The drug industry is stealing from us twice.
	* 	 First it claims that it needs huge profits to develop new drugs, 
even while drug companies get hefty taxpayer subsidies.
	* 	 Second, the companies gouge taxpayers while spending millions from 
their profits to buy access to lawmakers and defeat pro-consumer 
prescription drug legislation.

The drug industry responded that, besides the federal funding, 
manufacturers spend billions of dollars on testing drugs and bringing 
them to market. Officials from the NIH said Monday that the report was 
only meant for internal use. Key contributions were based on 
researchers' scientific judgment, not hard and fast criteria.

  The NIH document was designed to examine federal contributions to 
prescription drug research. The internal study, obtained by Public 
Citizen through the Freedom of Information Act, showed that 
taxpayer-funded scientists and foreign universities conducted 85 
percent of the published research studies, tests and trials leading to 
the discovery and development of five top-selling drugs.

  Zantac costs about $100 for 60 pills. Zovirax costs about $145 for 60 
pills. The government also played key roles on developing the 
hypertension drugs Capoten and its slight alteration Vasotec, which 
retail for about $135 for 60 pills, and the antidepressant Prozac, 
which costs about $75 for 30 pills.

  The NIH document supports its argument that prescription drugs could 
be more affordable to middle and low-income seniors. The advocates 
rejected contentions by some companies that the cost of developing new 
medicines is causing the escalation of prices. But industry officials 
countered that drug companies still spend significant amounts on 
getting a drug to market, even when breakthrough studies are achieved 
with government help.

  Consumer groups have long blamed drug-makers' aggressive marketing for 
soaring drug prices. Public Citizen also said that drug makers had 
spent $262 million during the 1999-2000 election, which includes $177 
million on lobbying, $65 million on issue ads and $20 million on 
campaign contributions.

  The Washington Post July 23, 2001