PATENTS - Where will medical innovation come from?

Last year, the bulk of profits made by big pharma came from drugs approved prior to 2001.

If we look at the percent of big pharma’s profits from drugs created within the last five years, the picture is grim. On average, new therapies make up only 8.3% of their profits.

The patents are running out and big pharma’s science is sluggish. Now the underdogs of the industry, small pharma and biotech, are poised to take on what were once considered incurable diseases. Why are little companies succeeding while big ones are sliding? It comes down to risk.

That is from  the author of Cured: How the Berlin Patients Defeated HIV and Forever Changed Medical Science.