Industrial renewal in the bio/nanopharma sector is important for the long term strength of the Australian economy and for the health of its citizens. A variety of factors, however, may have caused inadequate attention to focus on systematically promoting domestic generic and small biotechnology manufacturers in Australian health policy. Despite recent clarifications of 'springboarding' capacity...

The generic drug and branded drug is a confusing concept, and is a matter of serious concern for the pharmaceutical sector after the imposition of the rule that every physician should prescribe drugs with generic names legibly and preferably in capital letters and he/she shall ensure that there is a rational prescription and use of drugs. The generic drug should be bioequivalent before they can...

OBJECTIVES Pharmaceutical policies have become paramount in China and other countries of the Asia-Pacific region because of rapidly rising expenditures on drugs. The problems are especially acute in China because expenditures on drugs are typically so large. This article intends to review effects of the policy of drug expenditure containment with primary reference to China, and it proposes some...

The current view is that the financing of R&D for neglected diseases should be provided by the public sector, while R&D itself is best carried out by the private pharmaceutical sector. In response to this model, most current policy proposals are aimed at mobilising substantial public finances to commercialise the neglected disease market, thereby allowing it to compete in company R&D priorities...

Poor drug access continues to be one of the main global health problems. Global inequalities in access to pharmaceuticals are caused by a number of variables including poverty, high drug prices, poor health infrastructure, and fraud and corruption--the latter being the subject of this article. There is growing recognition among policy makers that corruption in the pharmaceutical system can wast...

Drawing on international examples of published policy objectives for national pharmaceutical policies, we propose a framework for gauging system performance on the health-related goals of policy in the pharmaceutical sector. We review basic policy structures and performance indicators for the seven participating countries of the Commonwealth Fund”s 2007 International Health Policy Survey. We ex...

This paper reviews current marketing practices in the pharmaceutical sector, and their impact on consumer and doctor behaviour. It identifies negative impacts which include misleading advertising, disease mongering and escalating costs. It argues the need to move from industry self-regulation to an independently monitored code of practice for pharmaceutical marketing.

ONGOING DEBATES IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL SECTOR ABOUT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, PRICING AND REIMBURSEMENT, AND PUBLIC RESEARCH INVESTMENTS HAVE A COMMON DENOMINATOR: the pursuit of innovation. However, there is little clarity about what constitutes a true pharmaceutical innovation, and as a result there is confusion about what kind of new products should be pursued, protected and encouraged through h...