The pill umbrella

Drug research went from the public to the private sector just before World War II, with the hope that economic incentive would enable more drug discoveries. Consumers would assume they would keep in mind common health interest, assuming they had humanitarian values…

But it is not what has happened.

Big pharmaceutical companies are driven by profit. They set prices according to customers’ financial capabilities, rather than production costs. For example, in Switzerland, drugs from the same laboratory can cost ten times more than in France. In another example, drugs to treat rare diseases are sold at prices unaffordable to private individuals. Research and Development (R&D) might generate profits but only on the long-run (10+ years). The industry has been lobbying politicians for so-called clinical-trials but they are just a way for the big pharma companies to protect their market. Undeniably, they are very expensive to run and small players cannot afford them. On top of that, they are conducted in countries with poor law enforcement and high corruption with disastrous effects on the population health.

The financializing of the pharma industry, in the 1980s, led the pharmas to focus on short-term profits. They achieved that goal by cutting R&D and by rising the prices focusing on the profits of the shareholders (rather than ethics and long-term strategies).
Short-term interests for shareholders have prevailed even damaging the economic interests of the pharmas in the long run. R&D is essential to cure exiting diseases but also infections we assumed disappeared like small pox or swine flu.
Existing diseases came back as resisting bacteria because of a widespread useof antibiotics. Half of the worldwide production of antibiotics is administered to cattle (WHO: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/93/4/15-030415.pdf) and 70% in the US (Antibiotics and Animal Agriculture: A Primer – Pew: http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/fact-sheets/2016/12/antibiotics-and-animal-agriculture-a-primer).

In 1918, the swine flu (H1N1) killed more human beings that the whole World War I. Should it reappear through antibiotics resistance, casualties could be counted by the billion, considering the modern means of travelling.

Human beings are unknowingly fed with antibiotics. Indeed, sine 1950, 40% of the worldwide production of those drugs goes into livestock food. Otherwise the cattle couldn’t survive the harsh conditions of the industrial agriculture. “Given a choice between developing antibiotics that people will take every day for two weeks and antidepressants that people will take every day for ever, drug companies not surprisingly opt for the latter.
Although a few antibiotics have been toughened up a bit, the pharmaceutical industry hasn’t given us an entirely new antibiotic since the 1970s.” James Surowiecki, The New Yorker.

The solution is not to be found neither within the short-profit driven pharmas nor within governments which are easily subject to their influences.

For example, curing diabetes with a single injection is now possible thanks to CRISPR technology. This has created panic among the laboratories who sell lifelong cures. This injection is not profitable for them. That’s why we need to create medicines in public structures that serve the interests of patients, not those of businessmen who put lawyers up against scientists to get them to abandon unprofitable advances. The technology was developed over ten years ago and is still not in use.

The battle to own the CRISPR–Cas9 gene-editing tool – WIPO: https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2017/02/article_0005.html

As another example, experiments on psychedelic substances were halted by the Nixon administration, which penalized the substance on the grounds that it was responsible for the anti-Vietnam war movement. As soon as LSD and mushrooms were banned, research came to a halt, despite very promising beginnings. In some cases, psychedelic substances could be used to treat depression, especially in patients for whom antidepressants do not work. For the moment, small-scale research is very promising. Massive public investment is needed to carry out the research, as the pharmaceutical industry is not interested in these products. It prefers to sell drugs for everyday use and for life.

Les psychédéliques, des drogues qui soignent ? | ARTE: https://youtu.be/a5SgHu9hDVw?si=UNb0ytlpWwU-3kj0

How to Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics – Michael Pollan: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36613747-how-to-change-your-mind

The information era enables open science where individuals and smaller groups can share and discuss their research. The CERN have largely contributed to develop open science. CRISPR, which is developed by companies, universities and citizens, is the most promising healing method since decades.

Legislation must evolve to remove the financial burden of clinical trials, which prevent smaller players to release new drugs.

Scientific collaboration is not new, it already existed at the time of Louis Pasteur. This is explained in this document: The Beginning of International Collaboration at the CNRS: Will antibiotics stop working – CNRS: http://www2.cnrs.fr/fr/169.htm

How can we solve the antibiotic resistance crisis? – Gerry Wright: https://youtu.be/ZvhFeGEDFC8

How can we solve the antibiotic resistance crisis?– Gerry Wright: https://youtu.be/ZvhFeGEDFC8

Bacteria Killers – The Story of Phage Therapy – Arte: https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/078693-000-A/bacteria-killers

Concernant la pandémie de grippe de 1918: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grippe_de_1918

La Constance du Jardinier de John Le Carré, roman très documenté, traite des essais pharmaceutiques en Afrique – Wikipedia: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Constance_du_jardinier

Pharmaceutical giants have cut research into psychiatric medicine by 70% in 10 years: Why ‘big pharma’ stopped searching for the next Prozac – The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/27/prozac-next-psychiatric-wonder-drug-research-medicine-mental-illness

Pfizer met fin à la recherche de nouveaux médicaments contre la maladie d’Alzheimer et la maladie de Parkinson – Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pfizer-alzheimers/pfizer-ends-research-for-new-alzheimers-parkinsons-drugs-idUSKBN1EW0TN

Les effets sur la santé humaine de l’utilisation sub-thérapeutique des antimicrobiens dans les aliments pour animaux – NCBI: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK216502/

Modèle actuel de financement du développement du médicament: du concept à l’approbation – NCBI: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK50972/

Open Science est l’avenir du développement de médicaments – NCBI: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5369032/

Le piège des brevets? Les défenseurs de l’Open Science veulent que la technologie CRISPR soit gratuite – CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/crispr-gene-editing-technology-patent-1.3888259

Changer les modèles de R&D dans les sociétés pharmaceutiques – NCBI: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4847363/

Une nouvelle loi bipartisane soutient un financement accru et des approbations plus rapides – The Harvard Gazette: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/02/the-changes-in-drug-research-testing/

Netflix – Dirty Money (documentaire – 2018) – Saison 1 Episode 3 “Drug Short”: https://youtu.be/5ZTEJdAQwW8?si=fVEvj4TnsbEHu6Oe