How much do you know about America's pharmaceutical companies? Did you know that it takes years to develop one medication? Did you know that the research being done today by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies will help Americans and people all over the world live, longer, healthier lives? There is probably a lot about Amercia's pharmaceutical companies that you didn't know. Read on to test your knowledge of America's pharmaceutical companies and learn about the advancements they are making every day.
PhRMA's Partnerships and Programs
- PhRMA has worked with more than 1,300 national, state and local partners through the Partnership for Prescription Access (PPA) to match 5 million people with free or reduced-price patient assistance programs. This program helps patients obtain information on nearly 475 patient assistance programs; 200 of which are sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. Through the PPA program, PhRMA provides information on nearly 10,000 free clinics nationwide and has connected 245,000 patients with clinics and health providers in their communities.
- PhRMA supports reforms aimed at providing all Americans with access to affordable health insurance. In addition to the PPA program, the board of directors has approved Principles on the Uninsured to establish a set of blue prints from improving access to health insurance for all Americans.
- PhRMA's California Partnership for Access to Treatment (CPAT) program is a forum that connects advocacy organizations, community groups, health care providers and employers together affording them an opportunity to discuss and share ideas about how to increase access to health care.
- Through the Pharmaceutical Industry Labor Management Association (PIL-MA), PhRMA works with other key stakeholders in the industry to ensure new medicines are getting to those who need them.
Battling Chronic Disease
- PhRMA is one of the founding members of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Diseases, an organization that supports implementing health care reforms that prevent and better manage the growing incidence of chronic disease, such as reducing obesity through a major public health campaign, promoting wellness and health lifestyles and improving health and lives of racial and ethnic minority patients by reducing and elimination health care disparities.
- Since chronic disease is responsible for causing seven out of ten deaths in the United States, PhRMA is working with various partners, including outreach programs like the Partnership for Prescription Access (PPA), California Partnership for Access to Treatment (CPAT) and the Pharmaceutical Industry Labor Management Association (PIL-MA) to battle this epidemic.
Developing New Solutions
- In 2007, PhRMA member companies invested nearly $45 billion to discover and develop new medicines. New medicines help to contain the nation's health care costs by helping patients avoid invasive surgeries and costly hospital and nursing home stays.
- America's pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies are testing a record 633 biotech medications right now: 254 for cancer, 162 for infections diseases, 59 for autoimmune diseases, 34 for HIV/AIDS and related conditions, 25 for cardiovascular disease, and 19 for diabetes and related conditions.
- The FDA and PhRMA companies work together through a variety of testing phases to ensure that the over 10,000 prescription medications available today are safe and effective. Only one of every 10,000 potential medicines investigated by America's research-based pharmaceutical companies is approved for patient use. It takes nearly 15 years of research and development and almost $800 million to achieve an approval from the FDA.
- Biotechnology has created more than 200 new therapies and vaccines, including products to treat cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and autoimmune disorders.
- There are more than 400 biotech drug products and vaccines currently in clinical trials targeting more than 200 diseases, including various cancers, Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and arthritis.
Protecting the Environment
- PhRMA has worked with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other regulatory agencies to help ensure the potential impacts of medicines on water and human health are understood and minimized.
- PhRMA has also partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the American Pharmacists Association to create the SMARxT Disposal™ program, which is designed to educate American consumers about the proper disposal of unused medicines.
- Industrial biotech applications have led to cleaner processes that produce less waste and use less energy and water in such industrial sectors as chemicals, pulp and paper, textiles, food, energy, and metals and minerals. For example, most laundry detergents produced in the United States contain biotechnology-based enzymes. Environmental biotech products also make it possible to clean up hazardous waste more efficiently by harnessing pollution-eating microbes.
