New drugs tend to take between 8 - 12 years to come onto the market, so although this will impact on many other trials, overall the delay will not be that much.
Put this timeline with the number of people it takes to develop a drug at about £100 per person per hour (includes equipment, building maintenance etc etc), it is easy to understand why new drugs cost so much when they get to market.
Looked at the jobs page yesterday and working the same hours, I can earn more as a long distance truck driver!
Drug Trial - Fiasco?
Moderator: John Smith
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Sweet
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Did anyone catch the BBC programme on this a few days ago, it was actually very interesting though i only caught the second half. Gladly four of them are doing really well and only two more in ICU so hopefully they will get better soon. It showed one of the girlfriends there very upset.which was sad.
Lets hope that they can get to the bottom of it soon and that it doesn't happen again, with the people here making a full recovery.
Sweet X x X
Lets hope that they can get to the bottom of it soon and that it doesn't happen again, with the people here making a full recovery.
Sweet X x X
Sweet X x X
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Andrew MacLean
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I am worried about the spin that is being put on this story. It looks like yet another way in which the media are undermining the community's confidence in science.
I do think that the scientific method has its limitations, but when it comes to providing a sound basis of knowledge of the world, it is unbeatable. I am left asking the question, "What is the alternative?" Do we go back to using untested medicines?
In the 19th Century, Medical Researchers would try new therapies on themselves to see if there were any counter-indications. In the modern world some people make it their job to be subjects in 'human trials'. This story is the first one I can remember where at the stage of human trials there has been such a massive counter-indication identified.
When men were killed down mines or in shipyards, or in any of a thousand other dangerous jobs the sort of spin we see in the present case was never applied. I guess that the difference is that journalists would find it hard to make a case where shipbuilding or mining seemed exotic or out of the ordinary.
Also there is often a clamour in the press for some therapies (as in the case of DZT for the treatment of HIV) to be released before human trials in the laboratory. What is the scientific community to do?
I am deeply anxious for and worried about the health of the people in this drug trial. Like Sweet I am anxious that they should all make a full recovery, but I am also deeply grateful to them for the work they do and the contribution they make to the development of safe medicines.
Andrew
I do think that the scientific method has its limitations, but when it comes to providing a sound basis of knowledge of the world, it is unbeatable. I am left asking the question, "What is the alternative?" Do we go back to using untested medicines?
In the 19th Century, Medical Researchers would try new therapies on themselves to see if there were any counter-indications. In the modern world some people make it their job to be subjects in 'human trials'. This story is the first one I can remember where at the stage of human trials there has been such a massive counter-indication identified.
When men were killed down mines or in shipyards, or in any of a thousand other dangerous jobs the sort of spin we see in the present case was never applied. I guess that the difference is that journalists would find it hard to make a case where shipbuilding or mining seemed exotic or out of the ordinary.
Also there is often a clamour in the press for some therapies (as in the case of DZT for the treatment of HIV) to be released before human trials in the laboratory. What is the scientific community to do?
I am deeply anxious for and worried about the health of the people in this drug trial. Like Sweet I am anxious that they should all make a full recovery, but I am also deeply grateful to them for the work they do and the contribution they make to the development of safe medicines.
Andrew
Andrew MacLean
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Sweet
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Yes, it is interesting though that this programme mentioned that there had been an exact opposite reaction to this as the number of people wanting to go on a drug trial had increased!! Maybe people didn't know they existed and there is more coverage or being cynical here they didn't know how much money they could make! 
Sweet X x X
Sweet X x X
Sweet X x X
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