THE FRUITS OF PHARMACEUTICAL INNOVATION
The past 50 years have seen a revolution in our understanding of disease and its treatment. It has been a half century in which :

• Antibiotics and vaccines have played a major role in the near eradication of major life-threatening diseases, such as tuberculosis, syphilis, diphtheria, whooping cough, measles, and influenza.
• The discovery of the polio vaccine heralded the end of a disease which affected the spinal cord and the brain and often resulted in paralysis, wasting of the limbs and sometimes death.
• Smallpox, a centuries-old scourge of mankind, was eradicated from the planet.
• The development of oral contraceptive gave women control over fertility and their lives. Early versions were followed by lower dose pills with reduced side-effects.
• The treatment of peptic ulcers was revolutionized in the 1970s by the discovery of H2-blockers which reduce the amount of acid produced in stomach. Long spells in hospitals and deaths from ruptured peptic ulcers are now rare.
• Transplantation became a practical alternative for treating end-stage organ failure.
• Techniques for in vitro fertilisation were developed, bringing hope to many childless couples.
• Advanced scanning techniques were developed that have transformed the diagnosis and understanding of many human diseases.
• The structure of DNA was elucidated, opening the way for the detailed understanding of inherited diseases and their treatment through genetic engineering.
• Interferon, the first of a family of naturally occurring molecules called cytokines, was isolated, named and introduced to therapeutic use.
• Monoclonal antibodies were discovered, enabling highly specific targeting of medicines.
• AIDS emerged and with it the discovery of a family of human viral pathogens called retroviruses, of which HIV is one, leading to entirely new medicines to contain it.
• The development of ACE inhibitors in the 1980s has had a major beneficial effect on patients with heart failures.
• Genetic engineering produced the first therapy for human use with production of genetically engineered insulin in 1982. About 80 per cent of diabetics now use this type of insulin.
• New short-acting anesthetics have enabled an increase in day-care surgery, thus allowing patients to go home on the same day as their surgery.
• The development of inhaled steroids has had a profound effect on the treatment of asthma.
• The human genome was sequenced, laying the foundations for the development of many treatments for major diseases in the coming decades.

Source: www.efpia.org