Macro trends in pharmaceutical innovation

Extract: A lately recycled criticism of the pharmaceutical industry is that it is failing in its mission to innovate. In particular, critics question the industry's incentives to innovate, and they deride those innovations the industry makes as imitative. Industry advocates contend the opposite. The truth is that there are no generally accepted measures of innovation that would conclusively prove either side's point. However, I have found trends in several measures that support both sides of the innovation debate. Overall, the bulk of evidence suggests that the pharmaceutical industry continues to regard pioneering innovations as important (evidenced by the motivation, effort and ability of the industry to create such innovations). However, like other mature manufacturing industries, the pharmaceutical industry relies heavily on incremental innovations (what critics call "me-too" drugs) to sustain its profits. To a large extent, these incremental innovations are themselves medically beneficial and should be encouraged rather than dismissed as merely imitative.