Alternative medicine

摘要

Ask a big drug-company boss why he is in the business of making pharma-ceuticals, and he will say he wants to "address unmet medical needs". But not all medical needs are equally attractive. Most of the 7,500-plus medicines currently in development by biotech and pharmaceutical companies are for chronic diseases of the rich world. At the same time, some of humanity's nastiest afflictions get little attention. Tropical diseases, such as sleeping sickness or leishmaniasis, are a turn-off for drugmakers because they strike mainly in poor countries and offer little hope of an attractive return on investment. Of the 1,500 or so drugs launched over the past 30 years, fewer than 20 deal specifically with tropical disease.