1. From Bench to Bedside: The Biologist in Drug Development
- Author
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Homer E. Stavely and Gordon R. McKinney
- Subjects
Government ,Biologist ,Drug development ,business.industry ,Business ,Marketing ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,Drug industry ,Bench to bedside ,Pharmaceutical industry - Abstract
creased astronomically in the last quarter-century. While much of this increment is the result of vastly increased government appropriations administered by the National Institutes of Health, the pharmaceutical industry in the United States has expanded its research and development expenditures manyfold. In 1965, 12% ($338,000,000) of the previous year's ethical drug sales was spent for this purpose (PMA, 1965-66). Approximately half of the research and development personnel are biologists of one type or another. According to the most recently available figures, about 15% of all biologists were employed by the pharmaceutical industry in 1964 (PMA, 1965-66; Leisner, 1965). There can be no doubt that the primary motivation for the expenditure of such a large sum by the pharmaceutical industry for research is the desire to discover, develop, and market new drugs, but it would be simplistic to equate this drive for new drugs solely with profits. Industry personnel, managers and scientists alike, possess a genuine humanitarian desire to alleviate man's physical ills. The drug industry has learned the lesson that research
- Published
- 1966