The Biomedical Revolution Needs a Few Good Economists
There’s no questioning the humanitarian benefits of new medicines, but it’s hard to measure their impact on the economy.
Celebrate science — and measure it, too.
Photographer: JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFPThis is a golden age for biomedicine. Over the past few years, mRNA vaccines have saved millions of lives and enabled business and social life to resume at much safer levels. There are pending vaccines for malaria and for dengue, both showing good signs of working. There is serious talk of using Crispr to fix sickle cell anemia. An mRNA vaccine against some forms of cancer is more speculative, but seems possible.
Other drugs, some repurposed from anti-diabetes medicine, show very promising results in reducing obesity. Already they are being used by millions of Americans, and some reports indicate that stronger and more effective drugs are on the way. Since obesity is arguably America’s leading health problem, this is highly significant news. It is not so long ago that the news was filled with articles about how the pharmaceutical pipeline was broken.