IN an unprecedented series of 60-second radio spots in Michigan last fall, the head of Pfizer’s Ann Arbor research labs told listeners about the wonders and woes of pharmaceutical research. David Canter’s scientists had objected to being cast as villains by Michigan politicians railing against the high costs of drugs, so he took to the airwaves to explain the realities of what it costs to produce pharmaceuticals. He made a compelling case—pointing out. for example, that dry holes are all too common in research: “Just one out of even 25 drugs we try to develop succeeds, and the one success has to pay for the 24 failures.”
The pharmaceutical industry will be up against a very hostile audience in the new year.
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