Sunday, April 05, 2009

Secrecy slowing drug research

From the Toronto Star:
It takes a big brain and a big-time swagger to transform the drug industry. And Aled Edwards – a renowned University of Toronto biochemist and respected laboratory leader – employs both to change the way drugs get into your medicine cabinet.

The 47-year-old researcher says the current method of creating drugs – one shrouded in secrecy and driven by patents and money-making – has failed. Too few medicines have come to market in the past 30 years, which means too many people still get sick and die from disease.

Edwards believes the only way to get more medicines to patients is for industry and academia to work together – and to post all their findings free on the Internet.

It is a groundbreaking idea – one many said would be anathema to the billion-dollar drug industry, which for decades has thrived on the spoils of patented blockbuster drugs. ...more

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