Pfizer: Who Needs New Drugs

...when you can just market existing drugs for new indications? I heard on NPR Marketplace earlier that Pfizer's current strategy is to focus on getting their current product line marketed for more indications rather than developing newer meds. Does this kind of admission bother anyone?

PharmaGossip has written about this issue on occasion (such as here), pointing out that there is only so long that the drug industry can run around in circles. Research money needs to start going toward developing new meds that add a significant benefit beyond existing products rather than creating me-too's or new drug classes that actually add little to existing treatments.

Remember, when you hear PhRMA waxing poetic about how much money is spent on R & D, a large chunk of that money is going to conduct studies showing that existing product X is roughly as effective as drugs A, B, C, and/or D in treating condition Y. That is the kind of research that generally does little to improve patient outcomes.