Charles M. Beasley Jr’s reply to Christian Fibiger’s comment

Barry Blackwell: Corporate Corruption in the Psychopharmaceutical Industry

I thank Chris for pointing out explicitly one of the multiple factors that is contributing to the steady increase in the cost of new drugs to market. While I pointed out, “The conditions requiring first treatments or substantially improved treatments are increasingly resistant to innovative discovery” (potential contributor #1), this is linked to the fact that for many disorders, particularly outside of psychiatry, we have fairly good treatments that reduce and manage symptoms, and many of these treatments are generic. Therefore, the hurdle to develop a commercially viable product where some treatment exists increases even if improvements in treatment are highly desirable. Both cost and risk of failure increase.

September 14, 2017