The Facts of New Drugs

   The economic principle I studied over the past semester was, people respond to incentives in predictable ways with the question of, "how are drugs incentivized?"  The reason behind this topic was due to my knowledge of the incredibly high prices for medication like epipens, which people are in dire need of.  Many times, drug companies will take advantage of the fact that you need new drugs for well-being, and will keep prices high in order to make more profit.  The problem is that with drug prices so high, some people cannot afford medication which they need.  I looked at why these prices were so high, and how prices could be lowered by means of incentivizing drug companies to do so.  

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   In the second blog post, I researched the article "Creating New Economic Incentives for Re-purposing Generic Drugs."  It states how, "Policymakers from academia, industry, and government have called for federal initiatives to stimulate drug development. Most proposals target the intellectual property environment, because market-exclusivity periods, usually supported by patents, foster revenue generation in the pharmaceutical market."  Having more incentives boosts the pharmaceutical market, and help companies that are looking to make money be ready to pump out more drugs.  This will also help them not spend as much money on drugs by re-purposing, in return lowering the price for the consumer.  

   In the third blog post, I researched the article "Using Market-Incentives to Promote Pharmaceutical Innovation."  This article addresses the issue of pros from incentives for new drugs by explaining how government policy has changes to encourage new drugs to be put out on the market.  It explains the various outcomes that occur due to increase in drug production, as well as acts Congress has passed to further research and development of drugs.  Having more incentives boosts the pharmaceutical market, and help companies that are looking to make money be ready to pump out more drugs.  This will also help them not spend as much money on drugs by re-purposing, in return lowering the price for the consumer.  With drug prices lower, people will be able to afford drugs they need.

   In the fourth blog post, I researched the article "A systematic review and critical assessment of incentive strategies for discovery and development of novel antibiotics."The article states that having public funding is a good thing, but many times privatizing funding halts drug growth because of the incentive to make new drugs to make money for oneself cause companies to withhold information which if put together could help develop drugs faster.  By having an incentive to make money, this causes lack of research to be shared which can be detrimental to be making drugs for infectious diseases.  This article essentially is saying that having incentive to create foster new development of drugs to combat infectious disease is important and intentions good, but sometimes having too much incentive can halt growth and development of new drugs.  Companies want to make money, but by having to many incentives it can stop them from making it, halting drug production.  This may be part of the reason why drugs take so long to be made, because of negative incentives which are involved.

   In my fifth blog post, I researched the article "Mylan’s EpiPen Pricing Crossed Ethical Boundaries." In this article I read about the ethics of making drugs for help and money, and where to balance the two.  As we continue to develop as a world, new and improved drugs continue to come out.  Many of these drugs are vital for some people to lead a normal life.  One of these drugs is the EpiPen.  An EpiPen is a brand name for an epinephrine auto-injector device used to manage potentially life-threatening anaphylactic reactions to allergens.  Essentially if you are having a life-threatening allergic reaction, it will save your life.  The problem is that the company Mylan which makes it, like many others, takes unfair advantage of the fact you as the consumer need this product.  They use their monopoly status to keep prices high, to increase their profits.  I believe that having a monopoly over a drug is wrong when the producers keep the drug price high and out of the hands of people who are in need of it.  Reading this article allowed me to identify where the line I see should be drawn regarding the ethics of drug prices and availability.