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On  Thu, 17 Apr 1997 19:07:33 -0400, Elise Gorseth <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

>The true driving force behind advancements in
>medicine are the billions of dollars poured into pharmaceutical research
>and development to discover new drugs, and any honest doctor will attest to
>that.

I agree.  It may be of special interest to many of the members of this
Listserve  that it was a multinational, US-based pharmaceutical company
(Eli Lilly) that funded the research of Banting and Best in Canada that led
to the discovery of insulin.  It was this same pharmaceutical company that
years later developed  insulin with the same chemical structure as human
insulin using recombinant DNA technology.  Before that only pork and bovine
insulins were available. Eli Lilly also funds educational training programs
to aid diabetics to enable them to better manage their disease.

Today another pharmaceutical company's research (ISIS) has resulted in
clinical trials of an antisense drug that has demonstrated safety and
efficacy in treating active Crohn's disease. This antisense drug blocks the
expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1).

It is the brand-name pharmaceutical companies that spend billions of
dollars on research which lead to a better understanding of different
disease processes.  Only  drugs which pass clinical trials and are best
sellers are copied by the generic companies.  Listmembers may want to
consider these factors next time they must decide on whether or not the
extra cost of a brand name drug is warranted.