6-30-07 Cures or merely Treatments?
Over on the Daily Dish one of Andrew's readers challenged the workability of the "market economy" healthcare system in the US helping to drive research. The idea that high future profits drive drug research is certainly valid, but the caveat pointed out by Andrew's reader is definitely a core problem in this system.
My best example to call the reader's attention to is the big bucks bonanza that drug companies and the healthcare industry at large have been cashing in on for the past quarter century. This would be the "cholesterol" campaign.
It began with the Framingham Study, which has garnered so many accolades, so much professional credibility, that it's impossible to assail in any way. Oddly enough, however, the directions for research by drug companies to discover a way to mitigate the effects of high cholesterol went into full swing at about the same point in time (late 1970's to early 1980's) as the discovery of the APO A-1 "Milano Gene."
Research into how this genetic fluke might be used to reverse the effects of high cholesterol is going VERY SLOWLY (isn't a quarter of a century enough time?), and it certainly isn't being funded by any drug companies. Also, it isn't that the discovery, back in the late 1970's, is lacking any merit. This avenue of research will most definitely yield a cure to the "high cholesterol" problem. Unfortunately, it'll kill the golden goose of ongoing drug sales of Lipitor and Crestor, et al, to endlessly "treat" the condition.
Consequently, we have a clear demonstration of "where the money is" in dealing with the cholesterol campaign, since a quarter of a century is long enough to show where it has actually gone. On the one hand, we have the cholesterol lowering drugs which, in our market driven healthcare system, are the biggest bonanza to come down the pipe. Statin drugs are the Golden Horn of Plenty for everyone because the customers all get lifetime prescriptions.
The most likely CURE, however, gets such skimpy funding for research that it's barely visible to the public, the healthcare community, or anyone else. Consider the viability of funding a single hypodermic shot, or any other method of genetic therapy involving a finite round of treatment, to the lifetime prescription of a statin drug. The choice is obviously going to be the one that produces the highest profit, and this is exactly how the cholesterol campaign has so far turned out.
An example of how the influence of drug companies can (and most definitely have) influenced research into APO A-1 Milano can be found, for example, in this link. Another way of looking at that particular round of activity in 2003, and an example of the skewed direction that "for profit" takes things like this, is the way in which that drug company attempted to put it to use.
By attempting to make it into a profitable "drug" the company ended up lowering their stock value much more than their test group's cholesterol.
The "pure science" work on APO A-1 Milano, however, does continue despite the efforts of chemical companies to push it out of view. Take a look at this report from last year, describing the work accomplished so far on developing a genetic therapy, and while you're there, take note of what the advertising around the edges is all about...
My best example to call the reader's attention to is the big bucks bonanza that drug companies and the healthcare industry at large have been cashing in on for the past quarter century. This would be the "cholesterol" campaign.
It began with the Framingham Study, which has garnered so many accolades, so much professional credibility, that it's impossible to assail in any way. Oddly enough, however, the directions for research by drug companies to discover a way to mitigate the effects of high cholesterol went into full swing at about the same point in time (late 1970's to early 1980's) as the discovery of the APO A-1 "Milano Gene."
Research into how this genetic fluke might be used to reverse the effects of high cholesterol is going VERY SLOWLY (isn't a quarter of a century enough time?), and it certainly isn't being funded by any drug companies. Also, it isn't that the discovery, back in the late 1970's, is lacking any merit. This avenue of research will most definitely yield a cure to the "high cholesterol" problem. Unfortunately, it'll kill the golden goose of ongoing drug sales of Lipitor and Crestor, et al, to endlessly "treat" the condition.
Consequently, we have a clear demonstration of "where the money is" in dealing with the cholesterol campaign, since a quarter of a century is long enough to show where it has actually gone. On the one hand, we have the cholesterol lowering drugs which, in our market driven healthcare system, are the biggest bonanza to come down the pipe. Statin drugs are the Golden Horn of Plenty for everyone because the customers all get lifetime prescriptions.
The most likely CURE, however, gets such skimpy funding for research that it's barely visible to the public, the healthcare community, or anyone else. Consider the viability of funding a single hypodermic shot, or any other method of genetic therapy involving a finite round of treatment, to the lifetime prescription of a statin drug. The choice is obviously going to be the one that produces the highest profit, and this is exactly how the cholesterol campaign has so far turned out.
An example of how the influence of drug companies can (and most definitely have) influenced research into APO A-1 Milano can be found, for example, in this link. Another way of looking at that particular round of activity in 2003, and an example of the skewed direction that "for profit" takes things like this, is the way in which that drug company attempted to put it to use.
By attempting to make it into a profitable "drug" the company ended up lowering their stock value much more than their test group's cholesterol.
The "pure science" work on APO A-1 Milano, however, does continue despite the efforts of chemical companies to push it out of view. Take a look at this report from last year, describing the work accomplished so far on developing a genetic therapy, and while you're there, take note of what the advertising around the edges is all about...
posted by Jeff Barnard at 11:02 AM
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