Discussion on cancer research drugs (Split from Rob Steward Court Case Thread)

[drrich2]

I have a close acquaintance who is an executive for a company that creates drugs and sells their creations to big Pharma.

Second of all, the one I mentioned is a research company that does get government grants and then sells its discoveries to big Pharma.

I'd like to understand this better. When they 'create' a drug, at what stage in the development process is that drug? Is it a drug that's shown promise in animal trials, a 'polished' drug that's shown promise in human trials, FDA approved for an indication, or what?

I ask because it can involve an enormous investment in time, money and manpower to bring a drug to market, and then there's the investment to market it. If the company you reference is selling their product to major pharmaceutical companies, it stands to reason they believe themselves better off doing it that way. Therefore, 'big Pharma' must be 'value-adding' in some way. I wonder what it is?

Richard.

P.S.: If it sells to pharmaceutical companies, then it gets funding from them in addition to government grants. Apparently both the government and those companies see value in paying them.

 

[dmaziuk]

Aside from that, I think everyone rushing to research the pie in the sky is great, but someone better care and feed that bird we're already holding. Just in case we need him later. The part where they make obscene amounts of money off of 'im, well, it's capitalism, whadyaexpect tovarisch.

 

[boulderjohn]

I'd like to understand this better. When they 'create' a drug, at what stage in the development process is that drug? Is it a drug that's shown promise in animal trials, a 'polished' drug that's shown promise in human trials, FDA approved for an indication, or what?

I don't have these details. I only know what he told me.

 

[Saniflush]

Also there is the problem that cancer isn’t a single disease at the molecular level, it’s a bunch of different diseases that have similar symptoms.

and mutates.

 

[ljpm]

I have a close acquaintance who is an executive for a company that creates drugs and sells their creations to big Pharma. They focus on cancer treatment. He recently confessed to an ethical problem he has with their work. They focus on treatment that will extend the life and comfort of someone who has cancer. They do not focus on either prevention or a cure, and he said that is true throughout the industry. Give it some thought and you will see why. Once the polio vaccine was created, all the companies making billions of dollars treating it were out of business.

How exactly does a pharma company focus on treatments for cancer that will extend life but not cure cancer? How do these treatments work? How does a company, or a scientist, know in advance which drugs will be cures and which will only be treatments? I ask because I have a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry and have worked briefly in the pharmaceutical field, I currently work in intellectual property, i.e. patents on chemical inventions and I can't see how this can be done.

Typically drug discovery works by targeting a metabolic pathway associated with a diseased state. If successful this will lead to a treatment. If very successful, in the case of cancer, the cancer will be eliminated (cured). Do they just stop working when they realize the results are too good?

The general population constantly denounces pharma for focusing on treatment and not on cures. They seem to ignore vaccines. although not cures they are prophylactic, i.e. prevent the diseased state. I personally grant at least one patent a month on new vaccines. Pharma is working on cures. They are just not easy to find.

 

[Insta-Gator]

Genetic mutation seems to be a major factor. I will not pretend to understand these things or how the medication works. All I know is that two people that are very close to me are surviving their cancer because of the one pill a day they take. A 30 day supply is about $15,000. That is not a typo.

 

[Wookie]

I know folks who work in those tpes of biomed places. The owners made a brazillion bucks selling their whatever to whomever, and now they develop drugs to specifically target some weird cancer that 50 people a year get. You couldn't afford to take the drugs, so if you don;t have insurance they give it away. If you have insurance, they pay. Big bucks.

 

[ljpm]

Genetic mutation seems to be a major factor. I will not pretend to understand these things or how the medication works. All I know is that two people that are very close to me are surviving their cancer because of the one pill a day they take. A 30 day supply is about $15,000. That is not a typo.

Rather than criticizing pharma companies for not finding a cure maybe we should be thanking them for at least finding a treatment.

As for the cost of the pills; it cost on average 100 million dollars to get a drug to market. The pharma company must recupe that cost plus an adequate profit in order to stay in business. Additionally, some chemicals are not easy or cheap to synthesize. This also adds to the cost.

 

[Insta-Gator]

Rather than criticizing pharma companies for not finding a cure maybe we should be thanking them for at least finding a treatment.

As for the cost of the pills; it cost on average 100 million dollars to get a drug to market. The pharma company must recupe that cost plus an adequate profit in order to stay in business. Additionally, some chemicals are not easy or cheap to synthesize. This also adds to the cost.

Agreed. I am grateful beyond measure for the medication my friend and my son have available to them. If it will buy them one more day, one more week, one more month, one more year, it just may be the time needed to find a permanent cure.

 

[ljpm]

Agreed. I am grateful beyond measure for the medication my friend and my son have available to them. If it will buy them one more day, one more week, one more month, one more year, it just may be the time needed to find a permanent cure.

I agree with the permanent cure but as a scientist I also realize how difficult it is.