Government Drugs

No one is discovering new drugs and the U.S. government has something to say about it. The New York Times wrote an article in January about the NIH breaking into the business of drug discovery. In October of 2011 the NIH will launch its "National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences."

The center will use screening to find chemicals that act on enzymes to create new drugs and cures. Once these chemicals are discovered, the center will also be responsible for animal testing and clinical trials---all functions usually undertaken by pharmaceutical & biotech companies in the private sector. All of this will happen with an initial investment of one billion dollars.

So why would the NIH start doing something its never done before? Because someone has to do it. The past decade has been marked by minimal drug discovery in the private sector. Add this to the fact that pharmaceutical companies are cutting research and you have a medical community that is desperate for new answers.


 Issues I Foresee:

1) The Learning Curve: The drug discovery process is long and extremely involved. Major pharmaceutical companies have been working on the process for years; they know it. The time from initial discovery to market is often 15-20 years (See Diagram Below). Jumping head first into a process which takes that long could prove frustrating.

2) The Funding: The center is starting out with an initial investment of one billion dollars. A single drug can cost up to a billion dollars to discover. It begs the question: will there be more funding eventually? Because they will need it.

Is drug discovery something the government is obligated to undertake? Will the NIH's attempt at drug discovery flourish or flop with the rest of the pharmaceutical companies? Let's hear what you think.