Sustaining Innovation in an Age of Disruption

The high costs of prescription medicines are a major societal and political issue. In response to this social crisis, the legal and regulatory framework for pharmaceuticals is changing fast. Also, in this age of disruptive innovation, no idea for improving the innovation potential of our products should be off the table. Therefore, it is high time that pharmaceutical scientists who design, develop, and manufacture drug products are part of the solution to medicine accessibility. For example, if the awareness of the costs paid by the patients was factored into product development and was indeed a design parameter that would be scrutinized similar to how other design parameters (such as assay, impurities, shelf life, etc.) are integrated into the TPP and QTPP, then the overall attempts to bring balance to the global health inequity will be lot more wholesome and collectively owned by the designers of the product. Such an inclusive approach may also help improve patient-focused drug development efforts.