Last week, big pharmaceutical companies were reminded that the cost of bringing a new drug to market has skyrocketed to a staggering $2.87 billion.
In a new study released on Tuesday, Dr. Joseph A. DiMasi, Tufts University's director of economic analysis, shows just how expensive it is to successfully introduce a new drug today in the US.
And to do it, you need not only around $3 billion, but also years of clinical trials.
And if the drug is of the CNS (central nervous system) variety, it can take even longer and cost even more.
Only 13.3 percent of non-CNS drugs ever make it through the pipeline and obtain marketing approval. And just 6.2 percent of CNS drugs make it to market.
One of the primary drivers of the astronomical price tag is the high expense of drug trials required by the FDA.
So what if you could skip the cost and the trouble – and still get a new drug product?
One could argue that marijuana has had the largest clinical trial of all – it's called college.
And the cost to develop cannabis for medicinal usage would be relatively small.
That said, the FDA has approved only two oral forms of cannabinoids, a derivative of cannabis THC, and they are Schedule II- and III-level FDA drugs strictly for use by very ill cancer and AIDS patients, and usually only resorted to when other treatments fail.
The FDA has not approved the smoking of cannabis for any condition or disease, due to a lack of evidence concerning safety and efficacy of cannabis. In 2006 it went so far as to issue an advisory against smoked cannabis because it claimed "marijuana has a high potential for abuse."
But legalization of pot in Colorado and Washington State may change that. In fact, of legalization continues, drug companies might not even need FDA approval for some over-the-counter uses.
It could be a boon to big pharmaceutical companies – in Colorado last year, marijuana sales were a staggering $386 million.
Like it or not, pot's not a budding industry anymore.
News Moderator: Shandar @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: New York Post
Author: Jonathon M. Trugman
Contact: Contacts | New York Post
Website: Pot sales could stoke Big Pharma | New York Post
In a new study released on Tuesday, Dr. Joseph A. DiMasi, Tufts University's director of economic analysis, shows just how expensive it is to successfully introduce a new drug today in the US.
And to do it, you need not only around $3 billion, but also years of clinical trials.
And if the drug is of the CNS (central nervous system) variety, it can take even longer and cost even more.
Only 13.3 percent of non-CNS drugs ever make it through the pipeline and obtain marketing approval. And just 6.2 percent of CNS drugs make it to market.
One of the primary drivers of the astronomical price tag is the high expense of drug trials required by the FDA.
So what if you could skip the cost and the trouble – and still get a new drug product?
One could argue that marijuana has had the largest clinical trial of all – it's called college.
And the cost to develop cannabis for medicinal usage would be relatively small.
That said, the FDA has approved only two oral forms of cannabinoids, a derivative of cannabis THC, and they are Schedule II- and III-level FDA drugs strictly for use by very ill cancer and AIDS patients, and usually only resorted to when other treatments fail.
The FDA has not approved the smoking of cannabis for any condition or disease, due to a lack of evidence concerning safety and efficacy of cannabis. In 2006 it went so far as to issue an advisory against smoked cannabis because it claimed "marijuana has a high potential for abuse."
But legalization of pot in Colorado and Washington State may change that. In fact, of legalization continues, drug companies might not even need FDA approval for some over-the-counter uses.
It could be a boon to big pharmaceutical companies – in Colorado last year, marijuana sales were a staggering $386 million.
Like it or not, pot's not a budding industry anymore.
News Moderator: Shandar @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: New York Post
Author: Jonathon M. Trugman
Contact: Contacts | New York Post
Website: Pot sales could stoke Big Pharma | New York Post
amendment 64 You don't know how cool it is to have been getting signatures for it, see it on the ballot and voting for it, then seeing it pass Oh My Science! 
