03 May 2011

Where is all that money going?


An online opinion piece by David Bornstein at NYTimes.com is generating some interesting discussion on the gap between academic research and the development of new drugs. While hundreds of thousands of biomedical research papers are being published each year, and millions of dollars are being spent on research (by both government funding agencies and pharmaceutical companies), there were only 21 new drugs approved by the FDA last year. There is clearly a need for more "translational" research, as addressed by Francis Collins' recent push for a federal drug development center. While researchers from all sides are making significant scientific progress, there are some glaring social issues that need to be fixed. Kudos to the author for bringing some of these issues to light. Be sure to stay tuned his follow-up article. 

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