Systemic biases in medical research: Difference between revisions

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The process of developing and testing a new drug and obtaining regulatory approval for it is very expensive. Manufacturers naturally prioritise researching drugs that will bring them a large return on their investment over less profitable ones. This means that promising drugs that don't have much potential for profit are often not researched. Sometimes a government or a charitable group will fund research into a promising drug, but there is a fairly small amount of this funding to go round - research by manufacturers makes up a large proportion of spending on drug development.

In a case of [~~[perverse incentives|link=~~https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive]], this means that drugs that only keep a disease in check or alleviate symptoms are often prioritised over drugs that can actually cure a disease (since the former have to be taken long-term, meaning that more doses will be sold), and drugs that will cost the patient a lot of money are prioritised over cheaper ones.

In a case of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive perverse incentives], this means that drugs that only keep a disease in check or alleviate symptoms are often prioritised over drugs that can actually cure a disease (since the former have to be taken long-term, meaning that more doses will be sold), and drugs that will cost the patient a lot of money are prioritised over cheaper ones.

Something that often affects whether a drug is profitable, and therefore to be researched, or not is whether or not it can be patented. If something is patented, only the company that has the patent can sell it, and they can therefore charge high prices. If it is not patented, they can't charge very much above the cost of manufacture because other manufacturers will undercut them.

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 The process of developing and testing a new drug and obtaining regulatory approval for it is very expensive.  Manufacturers naturally prioritise researching drugs that will bring them a large return on their investment over less profitable ones.  This means that promising drugs that don't have much potential for profit are often not researched.  Sometimes a government or a charitable group will fund research into a promising drug, but there is a fairly small amount of this funding to go round - research by manufacturers makes up a large proportion of spending on drug development.
-In a case of [[perverse incentives|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive]], this means that drugs that only keep a disease in check or alleviate symptoms are often prioritised over drugs that can actually cure a disease (since the former have to be taken long-term, meaning that more doses will be sold), and drugs that will cost the patient a lot of money are prioritised over cheaper ones.
+In a case of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive perverse incentives], this means that drugs that only keep a disease in check or alleviate symptoms are often prioritised over drugs that can actually cure a disease (since the former have to be taken long-term, meaning that more doses will be sold), and drugs that will cost the patient a lot of money are prioritised over cheaper ones.
 Something that often affects whether a drug is profitable, and therefore to be researched, or not is whether or not it can be patented.  If something is patented, only the company that has the patent can sell it, and they can therefore charge high prices.  If it is not patented, they can't charge very much above the cost of manufacture because other manufacturers will undercut them.