It is axiomatic that prescription drug prices are higher in the United States than Canada. While many politicians and consumer advocates consider this prima facie evidence of drug company greed, economists are less quick to judge. The monopoly offered by patents generates the profits that are necessary to motivate innovation. Still, the evidence is rather overwhelming that drug prices vastly ex...

national drug policy (ndp) constitutes the specification of mid-term and long-term pharmaceutical objectives by the government and the determination of major strategies warranted to achieve such objectives. stated in other words, ndp determines the frameworks for the pharmaceutical activities of private and state sectors. the specification of these policies and strategies will be an effective m...

As a superfamily of enzymes, proteases play critical roles in the regulation of cellular protein activity. There are nearly 500 known human proteases, and over 100 identified homologs. It is estimated that up to 1,200 human genes encode proteases. Therefore, proteases constitute a particularly important class of protein targets of interest to drug discovery screening programs in the biopharmace...

Estimating spending for prescription drugs has become increasingly difficult over the past 15 years as extensive changes have taken place within the retail prescription drug industry. Expenditures for prescription drugs in retail outlets grew rapidly during the 1980s and early 1990s. New retail outlets emerged and existing sites lost market share. New mechanisms for reimbursing drug purchases l...

Drug pricing in the U.S. is a persistently vexing policy problem. Budgeteers, consumers and payers are all stressed by the pressures of high drug prices. At the same time, the public demands new and better cures. The pharmaceutical industry insists that delivering new treatment and cures requires compensation for the high costs and risks entailed in development of new drug products. There is su...

Through the 1960s, many people claimed that drug advertising was educational and physicians often relied on it. Continuing Medical Education (CME) was developed to provide an alternative. However, because CME relied on grants, industry funders chose the subjects offered. Now policymakers worry that drug firms support CME to promote sales and that commercial support biases prescribing and foster...