Exactly. I'm a basic researcher, so I look at the basic biological mechanisms that are or may be susceptible to drug intervention--meaning that my work is necessary even before the drugs can be developed. Scientists at the basic level are busily trying to develop new assays to weed out bad drugs long before they ever reach the clinical trial pipeline. I've seen a statistic that only about 1 out of 100 new drug candidates ever makes it to clinical use. Given the costs associated with R&D, the earlier those bad candidates can be weeded out, the better.
Unfortunately, there are way too many people--a depressing number of conservatives, even--who denounce the profits of "big pharma" and the high price of new drugs without having even a basic understanding of the expenses incurred while developing those new drugs. It's too easy to demonize "big pharma" when people are constantly reminded of the profits while being kept ignorant of the costs.
Yep. Exactly. And the same sort of “logic” or lack there of, is often used against the oil industry. Many people are ignorantly unaware of the upfront costs to find oil and drill wells, the costs of getting that oil out of the ground including all the regulatory costs. But Godz Forbid that those “evil” oil companies actually make a profit for their efforts. And some people also fail to realize how much of that gross profit goes back into R&D and employee wages and benefits. That’s true for both pharma’s and the oil industry and in fact for many companies.
I currently work for a manufacturing, company in PA, a small division of a large UK owned company with worldwide subsidiaries. My division manufactures components for conveyance and power transmission systems; specialized polymer belts, o-rings and transmission systems used in a wide range of other industries including but not limited to mining, food processing, and industrial HVAC systems. Fortunately we are profitable even in this bad economy and are currently in a hiring and expansion mode. But without profits, we would not be able to expand, do R&D to develop new products, improve our manufacturing processes and expand our product lines that keep people working and provide new jobs. My division is also very active in donating to and giving back to the local community. For example, when the town we are located in was severely flooded last year after a tropical storm, we donated money, trucks, manpower and appliances to the local aid effort, several thousand of dollars. We couldn’t do that if we were not profitable.
And without profits, we would also not be able to give raises, provide an excellent benefit package and pay the type of wages necessary to find the best people for the engineering and product development positions that keep us profitable and cutting edge in our industry. Even our lowest level assembly line workers make a relatively high hourly wage, get a generous profit sharing and benefit package compared to other similar manufacturing companies in the area. BTW – we are not union :), .
Yet some of the same people who denounce the “profits” of “Big Pharma” and “Big Oil” have no problem shelling out big bucks for the latest I-phone or I-pad or some other technology gadget with seemingly little if any concern about the profitably of those companies. But the high cost to develop products prescription drugs and gasoline shouldn’t matter; they should be cheap if not “free” for everyone and come out of thin air and no company engaged in such, should ever make a profit.