Drug discovery technologies play a
significant role in the field of pharmaceuticals as they heavily
contribute to the introduction of drugs to the market. The application
of drug discovery technologies have a significant opportunity in the
launch of drugs for severe diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular
diseases, Parkinson’s disease, central nervous system disorders and
others. However, the slow growth in the introduction of blockbuster
drugs could pose a major threat for the growth of this market.
The major technologies in the drug
discovery market are proteomics, genomics, QPCR, DNA and protein
microarrays, high-throughput screening, mass spectrometry, laboratory
information management systems, microfluidics, gel electrophoresis,
chromatography, and protein and nucleic acid isolation.
As the global population ages, there
is a growing pressure to keep the healthcare costs under control. Senior
citizens are more prone to chronic diseases. It is in the nation’s best
interests to keep its population healthy. In addition to this the
pressure is paired with the government’s and administration’s
responsibility to pay for healthcare. This situation will magnify in
intensity if nothing is done to improve the status of treatment and
prevention of diseases among the aging population.
Apart from facing these pressures, the
pharmaceutical manufacturers also face an impending surge of expiring
patents. This will result in reduced profits of pharma companies. The
market players in this field have begun to respond to these factors by
restructuring their strategies and bringing innovation in their products
thus, improving their productivity and efficiency. Despite these
measures, pharmaceutical companies face the fact that drug discovery and
development consumes a huge amount of time and money. For instance,
drug discovery and development from scratch may take around 15 years and
costs about USD 500 million until it is introduced in the market.
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