How Much Have You Really Thought About The Pharmaceutical Industry?

A Look at Drug Development with a Different Spin

What do you think about when you hear the word ‘science’? My guess is that the majority will think of scientific research in the context of drug development, trying to cure or treat a disease of some sort. This falls under the heading of biomedical research. I could be wrong, but that is what I think most people will say they think of when they hear the word ‘science’. But is biomedical research true science as it is supposed to be?  Today I will try to provide some insight that will hopefully allow you to decide for yourself.  I will also try to make it clear what the pharmaceutical industry is and what it most definitely isn’t.

Let's consider for a minute the development of a new product, say an iPhone. There is a whole process that has to unfold for a new iPhone to be launched. Generally, this starts with a design.  What are all of the components going to be and what is it going to look like?  You're obviously upgrading off of a previous version, so what are you going to improve and what are you going to leave the same?  You get your design and maybe build a test model or something and then you test it out. You're also possibly in parallel going to be building new software because every year they come out with a new firmware, a new software upgrade in addition to a new hardware.  You have both of those happening, probably in parallel and in different groups.  A lot of the process consists of testing and optimizing things.  For the software, you're putting out various beta test versions, constantly tweaking things trying to refine them trying to eliminate bugs.  For any new hardware upgrades, it's going to be a similar kind of situation.  You're going to have to go through a process to develop, for example a new component.  Is it a new processor chip or something that you're going to add?  There's going to be a whole process of designing that and testing it before it then can be added to the phone and then the phone has to be tested.  So, there's a whole process that that has to be undertaken to launch a new product like an iPhone, and this could be said for any of the millions of products that you see in stores across the country and around the world.  There is a whole process that is required.  It is in many cases a very clear, controlled, and standardized process.  There are a lot of regulations that are that are built in.  These companies invest a lot of money and are expecting to get a significant return for that investment.  They aren't just walking around blindly in a field.  It's an intentional process to develop a new product that they intend to make a profit on.  I want to be very clear about that.  

Now we can go back and look at the pharmaceutical industry or the biotech industry.  We want to think of these entities as if they are beneficial to mankind, as if they are doing a service by trying to find “cures” to what ails us.  But is that true?  Can that be true if their primary goal is profits? Why should we believe that this industry, that the business they're in is any different than any other industry, like cell phones or electronic devices or cars, etc?  At the end of the day, it's a business.  It's hard to say it because their marketing is quite effective when they tell us that they're focused on patients first and foremost.  You want to believe that especially if you are sick and depending on them, but they are a business first and foremost.  And that means their goal above anything else is profits.  These companies, especially the big ones, they're listed in stock exchanges. They're publicly traded.  If they fail to produce a profit, the implications are vast.  They have to produce a profit or else.  They don't have a choice.  And they invest great sums of money in generating that profit.  This is the same for any company of any size that's creating any product, especially publicly traded companies because there's more visibility so they're going to do everything they can to maximize the value of their product.  But they're also going to do everything they can to ensure they have a solid market carved out for their product that is significant, that will drive that profit and ideally is sustainable. As well, you’re always looking for a new innovative product that you can build value in.  Let me make this clear, biotechnology is profiting off of innovation, period.  So, they're always looking for a new innovative product that can be marketed.  And you are looking for a competitive advantage within which you can take a significant share of the market to maximize your profits.  Most people understand some of these concepts, at least a basic level in their jobs, regardless of what you do. Most businesses have the goal of producing and selling a product or service so, in most jobs you're usually selling something to try to drive revenue, to try to make money.  When you do that, you have a market that you're targeting.  And you want to have an advantage going into that market and ideally it will be such that that market will be yours and it will be sustainable. You don't want a one and done product.  Look at how many people keep coming back time and time again because the marketing is so effective.  They really believe they need that new iPhone or whatever the ‘it’ product is for them.