Developing a drug from an idea to a finished product is a long journey. It takes easily more than ten years and can cost hundreds of millions of euros. However, the end result may be a drug that relieves symptoms or heals the patient. Sometimes we manage to also prevent diseases.
And for this reason, the failure of a drug development project affects many. Researchers who have done basic and applied research are disappointed, start-ups are facing financial difficulties, stock prices of large pharmaceutical companies are falling, doctors are not getting new tools, and patients who want the medicine are disappointed. Members of my own profession will be left without work, sitting by their Excel sheets. There is no need for cost-benefit calculations by health economists.
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