FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 23, 1999
Contact: Meredith Art (202) 835-3469 [email protected]
348 MEDICINES IN DEVELOPMENT PROMISE THAT THE REVOLUTION IN WOMEN'S HEALTH WILL CONTINUE, SAYS PhRMA
Washington, D.C. - A new survey by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) found 348 medicines in development for diseases that disproportionately afflict women -- a 75 percent increase in research on women's health since an earlier survey in 1991.
"The revolution in women's health research has already brought dramatic improvements in women's lives," said Alan F. Holmer, President and CEO of PhRMA. "Women now have medicines available that can reduce the risk of osteoporosis; lower the incidence of breast cancer in high-risk women and improve survival rates in women who have the disease; slow the progression of disability in multiple sclerosis patients; improve the quality of life for diabetes patients, and reduce pain and disability for arthritis patients. The new medicines in the pipeline promise that women will continue to reap big benefits from pharmaceutical research."
Although they live an average of six to seven years longer than men, women are more likely to suffer from a number of diseases. To combat these diseases, pharmaceutical companies are currently working on:
-- 24 medicines for rheumatoid arthritis, which causes pain and disability in 1.5 million women;
-- 60 medicines for breast cancer, which is expected to kill 43,000 women in the United States this year;
-- 38 medicines for ovarian cancer, which is expected to claim 14,500 lives in the United States this year;
-- 19 medicines for diabetes, which affects 8.1 million American women and costs $98 billion a year in treatment expenses and indirect costs such as lost wages;
-- 23 new treatments for Alzheimer's disease, which kills more than 14,000 women a year;
-- 18 new therapies for depression, which affects 12.6 million American women;
-- 24 medicines for osteoporosis, which causes two fractures in American women every minute.
Other medicines in the pipeline target osteoarthritis, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, incontinence, migraine headache, anxiety and other diseases that disproportionately affect women. In addition, pharmaceutical companies are studying more than 80 new medicines to combat heart disease -- the leading killer of both men and women -- with special attention to how the drugs work in women.
"The scientific revolution -- combined with the commitment of the pharmaceutical industry to meet the demands of women for state-of-the-art treatments at every stage of their lives -- has created a pipeline of medicines that will help women live better, not just longer lives," said Holmer.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) represents the country's leading research-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, which are devoted to inventing medicines that allow patients to live longer, healthier, happier, and more productive lives. Investing $24 billion this year in discovering and developing new medicines, PhRMA companies are leading the way in the search for new cures.
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PhRMA Internet Address: http://www.phrma.org
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