This opening chapter aims to provide a basic understanding of how the industry works and attempts to provide an explanation for some of its contradictions. 1,2 Despite the acknowledged risks and costs associated with pharmaceutical development, many citizens still believe that pharmaceuticals should be being developed to meet all human needs and that when developed they should be given away to everyone on the basis of need. The major pharma companies rightly promote themselves as being research-based organisations, yet most people believe that they spend more on marketing than on research. It is undoubtedly one of the riskiest businesses in which to invest money, yet it is perceived by the general public to be excessively profitable. It is also an industry replete with contradictions for example, despite the undisputed fact that for over a century the industry has made a major contribution to human wellbeing and the reduction of ill health and suffering, it is still regularly identified by the public in opinion surveys as one of the least trusted industries, often being compared unfavourably to the nuclear industry. The pharmaceutical industry has a number of unusual characteristics that make it very different from what people normally think of as industry. The commercial realities and constraints of the business, together with its current problems, are discussed, followed by an exploration of some of the likely future commercial and technical developments in the business, including the development of a greener pharmacy. The process of research and development is described, together with all its challenges, including environmental ones. The development of a new pharmaceutical is very time consuming, extremely costly and high risk, with very little chance of a successful outcome. The pharmaceutical industry has a number of unusual characteristics, both in its structure and in the nature of its business operations, which are little known outside the industry but which materially affect the process of bringing new pharmaceuticals to the patient.
Issues in Environmental Science and Technology The Pharmaceutical Industry and the Future of Drug Development Taylor, The Pharmaceutical Industry and the Future of Drug Development, in Pharmaceuticals in the Environment, 2015, pp.