Pharmaceutical Industry Raises Drug Prices by 9%

According to this story on the NY Times, Professor Schondelmeyer found that prices for the name-brand drugs most widely used by the Medicare population rose by 9.3 percent in the last year. Professor Stephen W. Schondelmeyer is a pharmaceutical economics professor at the University of Minnesota.

We know that it costs billions of dollars to research and develop a drug. Those costs are not trivial. We also know that the pharmaceutical industry is a for-profit industry and certain compounds end up being very profitable. Where is the balance? How do we ensure that new drugs are being discovered and that patients are receiving adequate and affordable treatment?

MIT Researchers Develop a Novel Drug-Delivery Gel

Shuguang Zhang, associate director of MIT's Center for Biomedical Engineering and his team have shown that a special gel may be used to deliver medications such as insulin, hormones, growth factors, or monoclonal antibodies like trastuzumab (Herceptin). The gel is being called a "nanofiber hydrogel scaffold." Wow, try explaining that to patients. This research was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the High Q Foundation. The High Q Foundation, Inc. is a private philanthropic foundation that was established in 2002 with the mission of bringing together academia, industry, governmental agencies, and other funding organizations in the search for Huntington disease (HD) treatments.

The end of axitinib

Pfizer was developing axitinib (a tyrosine kinase inhibitor or TKI) for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, recent Phase III results were disappointing. As a result, Pfizer has terminated development on this agent. This is just another failure example of all the money, time, and energy spent on drug development research. It really is a shame because we need more effective therapies in oncology.

Drug Discovery & Development of Innovative Therapeutics

Drug Discovery & Development of Innovative Therapeutics is the ONE conference that continues, year after year, to bring together cutting edge scientists, leading academia, and the world's top drug discovery and development experts - all in one place, at one time.

August 4-7, 2008
World Trade Center Boston
& Seaport Hotel
Boston, MA

Highlights for 2008:

• Pre-Event Online Partnering System: A Community to Schedule Meetings Prior to the Conference
• New Expanded Areas of Content in 2008: Orphan Disease, Anti-Infectives, Imaging, Cardiovascular Disease
• FDA Keynote Panel on Biomarker Qualification
• Keynote Panel on Politics and Change in Pharma/Biotech

Register here: http://www.drugdisc.com/