Nearly 700 New Medications In Development To Treat Diseases Affecting Blacks, PhRMA Report Says

Main Category: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 12 Dec 2007 - 4:00 PST

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Drug companies are working on 691 new medicines that treat diseases disproportionately affecting blacks, according to a report issued by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the Memphis Business Journal reports.

According to the report,

• 229 of the drugs are for cancers that disproportionately affect blacks;
  
  
• 114 address cardiovascular disease;
  
  
• 95 are to treat diabetes;
  
  
• 77 are for respiratory conditions, including asthma;
  
  
• 67 target HIV; and
  
  
• Other treatments will address kidney disease, glaucoma, obesity and sickle cell disease.
  

PhRMA President and CEO Billy Tauzin said in a statement, "There are complex reasons for the health disparity between African-Americans and other Americans that are not fully understood. These 691 medicines in development offer hope for closing the troubling health gap and increase the likelihood that every American can share in the benefits of medical progress" (Memphis Business Journal, 12/10).

The report was delivered to Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R). Mississippi has the largest population of blacks in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

PhRMA Senior Vice President Ken Johnson said, "The diseases highlighted in the report ... are among the diseases that disproportionately affect African-Americans in Mississippi" (PhRMA release, 12/10).

The report is available online (.pdf).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.