Drug industry has neglected needs of children and elderly, says think-tank
Research into conditions that affect children, women and older people has been neglected by the British pharmaceutical industry, according to a think-tank report.
The King’s Fund says that the pharmaceutical industry has focused
too much on profitable drugs rather than investing in research to protect
and promote health. In addition, the Government has tended to purchase
medicines passively rather than to drive the research agenda. “We
want to see a relationship develop between Government and the pharmaceutical
industry that is geared towards the promotion of health, not just the
promotion of wealth,” says report author Anthony Harrison, a senior
fellow at the King’s Fund.
He suggests that the narrow focus on new, profitable drugs has been allowed
to happen because the Government has failed to specify its health-related
research and development objectives. This has been made worse by the
fact that patients and the public play almost no part in deciding research
priorities.
The King’s Fund describes the relationship between the Government
and the industry as an implicit public-private partnership (PPP) and
suggests that it should be made more explicit.
It calls for a health research and development task force to be set up. “This
task force could set about systematically identifying all the areas poorly
served by the
current implicit PPP and identify the appropriate response on behalf
of the Government, the rest of the public sector and the private sector.” Such
a task force should also be able to commission research into the priorities
of citizens and service users.
In a statement, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
pointed out that its members spend nearly £9m every day in Britain
on research. It also collaborates with researchers working for other
organisations, including academia, medical charities, the National Health
Service and the Medical Research Council.
Dr Trevor Jones, director general of the ABPI, added: “While such
collaboration is extremely valuable, it would be quite wrong to suggest
that our research endeavour should be determined by the Government. The
UK-based industry is extremely innovative as well as competitive, with
a large and varied pipeline of products, including many for children,
women, older people and developing world nations.”
The comments by the King’s Fund report echo those made last month
at the launch of the Centre for Paediatric Pharmacy Research. Dr Ian
Wong, director of the centre, said: “Paediatric medicine is a small
market, the research is expensive and in some cases difficult to carry
out. There are no regulations specifically requiring companies to carry
out the research and it’s not a funding priority for the Government.”
The new centre — a collaboration between Great Ormond Street Hospital,
the Institute of Child Health and the School of Pharmacy, University
of London — is designed to support research into this area.
However, Gregory Kearns, professor of paediatrics and pharmacology, University
of Missouri, speaking at the launch, pointed out that a ruling in the
United States (allowing companies to obtain six-month patent extensions
to products, provided safety, dosage and efficacy research is carried
out on children) has resulted in some products, such as angiotensin converting
enzyme inhibitors, that had huge market value but little application
in children, being studied.
“Getting the right medicines? Putting public interests at the heart
of health-related research” is available from the King’s
Fund (tel
020 7307 2591), price £8. |
