Yes, really.
According to the NIH, taxpayer-funded scientists conducted 55 percent of the research projects that led to the discovery and development of the top five selling drugs in 1995.
Without any involvement from private industry at all? Are they including scientists associated with universities? How did they arrive at that percentage? What was their success rate in other years?
Total NIH money spent for all healthcare research projects -not just pharmaceuticals - will total less than $15 billion this year. Conversely, American Pharmaceutical companies will invest more than $30 billion this year on R&D just for drugs.
When companies begin recycling old products in new packages, it would seem they are experiencing a loss of creativity.
And you're sure this is all they're doing? How do you know so much about the focus of their R&D? Get the last issue of Forbes and read about the challenges we face with drug resistant bacteria. Some of the most promising antibiotics are coming from reformulated products already in existence. A simple reformulation of Prilosec into Nexium allowed the drug to repair damage caused by acid reflux. There is no excuse for your level of cynicism.
It would be impossible to trace the amount of tax dollars that line the pockets of drug companies. Much research in conducted in universities, domestic and worldwide, that receive public funding, add to research that is carried out by government entities like NIH. Then there are the tax breaks/incentives given to drug companies plus tax money that pays the consumer cost of prescriptions through various programs
The United States produces nearly 90 percent of the world's supply of new pharmaceuticals. Half of all medical treatments in use today were developed in the last 25 years. Yeah, those results are terrible. Maybe, someday, they'll develop something for the acute cynical nature syndrome you seem to be suffering from.
How much tax money is spent worldwide providing drugs to those who can't pay?
Ok, how much?
The "free market" drug industry could not survive without feeding at the government trough
They derive nothing from their $30 billion annual investment in R&D? LOL!
No doubt that's why they spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year lobbying government for more and more handouts.
What handouts are those? How much of the NIH budget goes directly to the drug companies? Drug companies must make great investments with all that government largess. Can you prove it by showing us their net profit as a % of revenue compare to other industries, or in their earnings multiples?
In the mean time, big pharma spends more on advertising than on R&D.
That's funny coming from someone who has no clue about how much they spend on R&D. Like I said, hopefully they're allocating resources to find a cure for your chronic pessimism condition.