Innovation in the pharmaceutical field is running out of steam, says Patrick Couvreur. This goes for most Western countries, since the reasons for this slackening of the innovative drive are due, in part, to public opinion which, while expecting much in terms of therapy, rejects most of the risks inherent in every new medicine, making research laboratories increasingly cautious in the development of new treatments and the regulatory environment increasingly complex. It derives also from the growing financialization of the sector, which sees short term economic interests trumping long-term investment in most major pharmaceutical firms, even though that investment would be better for the development of new procedures or treatments. If we add to this the limits the classical methods of discovering new molecules have run up against and the rigidity in France of the relations between research and industry, prospects are far from bright for the sector.
However, Patrick Couvreur’s article shows that there are other routes to innovation in pharmaceuticals (inter alia, pharmacogenetics and galenics), but these require a break with the previous culture, a stimulus to creativity and the encouragement of interdisciplinary cooperation. With long experience as a researcher/entrepreneur in the pharmaceutical field, Patrick Couvreur points out the current difficulties in pharmaceutical research, particularly in France, and the paths to be explored if innovation in this sector is not to dry up altogether.
