The accelerated pace of pharma abandonment of research and development in family planning and fertility: will reproductive health technology be frozen in time?

摘要

The development of accessible methods for family planning and successful treatments for female and male infertility can arguably be placed among some of the greatest scientific and medical achievements of the 20th century. Products can always improve, but in the case of contraceptives and fertility drugs, this may no longer be true because big pharma has lost interest over time, and recently benign neglect has turned to outright hostility. This is not so surprising when one considers that the methods that currently are available are effective and safe; birth rates have dropped in the developed world, in some cases to below replacement level, and in some countries, 1 of every 50 children is born through assisted reproduction. Beyond the efficacy of the technology, the return on investment in family planning and fertility research is not as great as that in other areas, and the potential liability is high. Finally, there are no incentives to stay in these therapeutic areas.