Chronicle: Who ensures that we develop new medicines?

The large and extremely profitable pharmaceutical companies have largely abdicated their responsibility for basic research and the early development phases of the drugs of the future. This responsibility now rests instead with small to medium-sized specialized biotech companies. But how is the early development work to be financed when the enormous profits from the existing drugs on the market are not reinvested in new research as was done in the past?
When the major international companies in the industry have maximized their profits by completely or partially cutting off their own R&D departments, the responsibility for financing now rests with individual investors and shareholders.
Everyone wants new, better, safer and more effective medicines. Medicines and treatment methods that cure previously incurable diseases to the delight of the individual patient, but also to enormous societal benefit and profit.
There is probably no industry that is treated more stepmotherly by the established financial press here in Scandinavia than the biotech market. Everyone wants pharmaceuticals, but no one wants to explain or demonstrate how an investment in pharmaceutical development can be both socially important and extremely profitable. The few times that an article about the industry is published in the established financial media, it is usually in negative terms.
The biotech sector has grown enormously in Scandinavia and the adaptation to the new world order for drug development has been rapid. Today, there are around 1500 small biotech companies in Scandinavia alone. Almost all of these finance their R&D through private investors, regardless of whether they are public and listed on a stock exchange or not.
All these private individuals who invest their savings in drug development are heroes. Without them, no new drugs could be developed and 10s of people in Sweden alone would lose their jobs. Universities would also find it difficult to maintain expertise and their high international level.
It is from this perspective that I am constantly amazed at how cold-hearted the financial and media industries are towards such an important and over time successful industry. Don't all these companies, researchers, investors deserve better coverage and more nuanced reporting of such a vital industry?
Investing in companies that develop new drugs is difficult. The knowledge threshold is high and it is associated with risks, but also fantastic opportunities. The risks become higher the less knowledge the individual investor has. This is precisely why this industry needs to be highlighted more and has a much greater need for information provision than all other industries. It is a mission that I hope that the collective business press and the regular news press will someday deliver. So far, they have not done so. This has resulted in the fact that nowhere in the world can you find lower company valuations for biotech companies than in Scandinavia. Which in turn makes it even more difficult for companies to finance the development of new drugs.
Everyone wants new, better, safer and more effective medicines. But who takes responsibility for that?
The investors!
Not many people invest in an industry that is crucial to the future and vital to humanity. Those who do are worthy of all respect. Many more are needed if we are to enjoy longer and healthier lives.
Martin Lind, analysis manager BioStock