BIG PHARMA—FULSOME PLUM OR DRIED-UP PRUNE?
It’s a dried-up prune!
The fulsome plum days
Truly, Big Pharma is a dried-up prune compared to the fulsome plum it used to be.
In the pre-blockbuster era, discovering and developing drugs was the exclusive domain of large, predominantly vertically integrated pharmaceutical companies. They were the ones that generated and owned all the clinical and nonclinical data, compiled the license applications, manufactured the test materials, liaised with regulatory bodies and generally exercised stewardship of the many and complex activities required to develop and market a drug.
They sponsored the clinical trials, and if and when a marketing authorisation (product license) (MA) was approved, they maintained inhouse company structures to ensure safety, efficacy and quality of their products, under their statutory obligations as the marketing authorisation (product license) holder (MAH/PLH).