Drugs companies 'are putting profits ahead of medical discoveries'

For every 1 spent on basic research a whopping 19 is spent on marketing, claim experts Current reward system discourages innovation, they add

By Claire Bates

PUBLISHED: 10:13 EST, 8 August 2012 | UPDATED: 11:08 EST, 8 August 2012

The pharmaceutical industry is in crisis because companies are rewarded for developing new drugs that have few clinical advantages over existing ones, experts say.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, Professor Donald Light from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and Joel Lexchin from York University in Toronto, say this has discouraged innovation for the past five decades.

They pointed to independent reviews that found between 85 and 90 per cent of all new drugs developed over the past 50 years have provided few benefits and considerable harms.

Has the pharmaceutical industry lost its way? Professor Light and Mr Lexchin say profits have been given priority over innovation

They said most research funds don't go towards finding breakthrough drugs but towards developing scores of minor variations that produce a steady stream of profits. Heavy promotion of these drugs can account for up to 80% of a nations drug spending, they add.

The duo warn that companies exaggerate research and development costs to lobby for more protection from free market competition. Yet, according to an independent analysis, the 1.3 per cent of revenues devoted to discovering new molecules compares with an estimated 25 per cent spent on promotion.

This means for every 1 spent on basic research a whopping 19 is spent on marketing.

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Drugs companies 'are putting profits ahead of medical discoveries'