IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v131y2015icp322-330.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Peering into the pharmaceutical “pipeline”: Investigational drugs, clinical trials, and industry priorities

Author

Listed:
  • Fisher, Jill A.
  • Cottingham, Marci D.
  • Kalbaugh, Corey A.

Abstract

In spite of a growing literature on pharmaceuticalization, little is known about the pharmaceutical industry's investments in research and development (R&D). Information about the drugs being developed can provide important context for existing case studies detailing the expanding – and often problematic – role of pharmaceuticals in society. To access the pharmaceutical industry's pipeline, we constructed a database of drugs for which pharmaceutical companies reported initiating clinical trials over a five-year period (July 2006–June 2011), capturing 2477 different drugs in 4182 clinical trials. Comparing drugs in the pipeline that target diseases in high-income and low-income countries, we found that the number of drugs for diseases prevalent in high-income countries was 3.46 times higher than drugs for diseases prevalent in low-income countries. We also found that the plurality of drugs in the pipeline was being developed to treat cancers (26.2%). Interpreting our findings through the lens of pharmaceuticalization, we illustrate how investigating the entire drug development pipeline provides important information about patterns of pharmaceuticalization that are invisible when only marketed drugs are considered.

Suggested Citation

  • Fisher, Jill A. & Cottingham, Marci D. & Kalbaugh, Corey A., 2015. "Peering into the pharmaceutical “pipeline”: Investigational drugs, clinical trials, and industry priorities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 322-330.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:131:y:2015:i:c:p:322-330
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.08.023
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953614005401
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.08.023?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stacey, Clare Louise & Henderson, Stuart & MacArthur, Kelly R. & Dohan, Daniel, 2009. "Demanding patient or demanding encounter?: A case study of a cancer clinic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 729-737, September.
    2. Morris, Norma & Bàlmer, Brian, 2006. "Volunteer human subjects' understandings of their participation in a biomedical research experiment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(4), pages 998-1008, February.
    3. Bell, Susan E. & Figert, Anne E., 2012. "Medicalization and pharmaceuticalization at the intersections: Looking backward, sideways and forward," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(5), pages 775-783.
    4. Kempner, Joanna, 2006. "Gendering the migraine market: Do representations of illness matter?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(8), pages 1986-1997, October.
    5. Lowton, Karen, 2005. "Trials and tribulations: Understanding motivations for clinical research participation amongst adults with cystic fibrosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(8), pages 1854-1865, October.
    6. Barker, Kristin K., 2011. "Listening to Lyrica: contested illnesses and pharmaceutical determinism," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(6), pages 833-842, September.
    7. Timmermans, Stefan & McKay, Tara, 2009. "Clinical trials as treatment option: Bioethics and health care disparities in substance dependency," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(12), pages 1784-1790, December.
    8. Busfield, Joan, 2010. "'A pill for every ill': Explaining the expansion in medicine use," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 934-941, March.
    9. Bishop, Felicity L. & Jacobson, Eric E. & Shaw, Jessica R. & Kaptchuk, Ted J., 2012. "Scientific tools, fake treatments, or triggers for psychological healing: How clinical trial participants conceptualise placebos," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(5), pages 767-774.
    10. Abraham, John & Davis, Courtney, 2005. "A comparative analysis of drug safety withdrawals in the UK and the US (1971-1992): Implications for current regulatory thinking and policy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(5), pages 881-892, September.
    11. DiMasi, Joseph A. & Hansen, Ronald W. & Grabowski, Henry G., 2003. "The price of innovation: new estimates of drug development costs," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 151-185, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mulinari, Shai & Vilhelmsson, Andreas & Ozieranski, Piotr & Bredström, Anna, 2021. "Is there evidence for the racialization of pharmaceutical regulation? Systematic comparison of new drugs approved over five years in the USA and the EU," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lawton, Julia & Jenkins, Nicholas & Darbyshire, Julie & Farmer, Andrew & Holman, Rury & Hallowell, Nina, 2012. "Understanding the outcomes of multi-centre clinical trials: A qualitative study of health professional experiences and views," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(4), pages 574-581.
    2. Wolters, Anna & de Wert, Guido & van Schayck, Onno & Horstman, Klasien, 2014. "Constructing a trial as a personal lifestyle change project: Participants' experiences in a clinical study for nicotine vaccination," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 116-123.
    3. Sarradon-Eck, Aline & Sakoyan, Juliette & Desclaux, Alice & Mancini, Julien & Genre, Dominique & Julian-Reynier, Claire, 2012. ""They should take time": Disclosure of clinical trial results as part of a social relationship," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(5), pages 873-882.
    4. Mary Olson, 2013. "Eliminating the U.S. drug lag: Implications for drug safety," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 1-30, August.
    5. Unruh, Lynn & Rice, Thomas & Rosenau, Pauline Vaillancourt & Barnes, Andrew J., 2016. "The 2013 cholesterol guideline controversy: Would better evidence prevent pharmaceuticalization?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(7), pages 797-808.
    6. Holger Patzelt & Dean A. Shepherd, 2009. "Strategic Entrepreneurship at Universities: Academic Entrepreneurs’ Assessment of Policy Programs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(1), pages 319-340, January.
    7. Patzelt, Holger & zu Knyphausen-Aufseß, Dodo & Fischer, Heiko T., 2009. "Upper echelons and portfolio strategies of venture capital firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 558-572, November.
    8. Dosis, Anastasios & Muthoo, Abhinay, 2019. "Experimentation in Dynamic R&D Competition," CRETA Online Discussion Paper Series 52, Centre for Research in Economic Theory and its Applications CRETA.
    9. Branstetter, Lee & Chatterjee, Chirantan & Higgins, Matthew J., 2022. "Generic competition and the incentives for early-stage pharmaceutical innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    10. Tomas J. Philipson & Eric Sun, 2008. "Is the Food And Drug Administration Safe And Effective?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(1), pages 85-102, Winter.
    11. Ming Liu & Sumner LaCroix, 2011. "The Impact of Stronger Property Rights in Pharmaceuticals on Innovation in Developed and Developing Countries," Working Papers 201116, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    12. Abe C. Dunn & Lasanthi Fernando & Eli Liebman, 2024. "How Much Are Medical Innovations Worth? A Detailed Analysis Using Cost-Effectiveness Studies," BEA Papers 0132, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    13. Edouard Debonneuil & Anne Eyraud-Loisel & Frédéric Planchet, 2018. "Can Pension Funds Partially Manage Longevity Risk by Investing in a Longevity Megafund?," Risks, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-27, July.
    14. Eric Budish & Benjamin Roin & Heidi Williams, 2013. "Do fixed patent terms distort innovation? Evidence from cancer clinical trials," Discussion Papers 13-001, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    15. Waters, James, 2014. "Introduction of innovations during the 2007-8 financial crisis: US companies compared with universities," MPRA Paper 59016, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Wolfgang Hein & Lars Kohlmorgen, 2005. "Global Health Governance: Conflicts on Global Social Rights," HEW 0509001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Nebibe Varol & Joan Costa-i-Font & Alistair McGuire, 2011. "Explaining Early Adoption on New Medicines: Regulation, Innovation and Scale," CESifo Working Paper Series 3459, CESifo.
    18. Philipson Tomas J. & Sun Eric & Goldman Dana & Jena Anupam B., 2012. "A Reexamination of the Costs of Medical R&D Regulation," Forum for Health Economics & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 15(1), pages 1-28, October.
    19. Scherer, F. M., 2007. "Pharmaceutical Innovation," Working Paper Series rwp07-004, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    20. Patricia M. Danzon & Eric L. Keuffel, 2014. "Regulation of the Pharmaceutical-Biotechnology Industry," NBER Chapters, in: Economic Regulation and Its Reform: What Have We Learned?, pages 407-484, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:131:y:2015:i:c:p:322-330. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.