Natwerk Designs

How many drug innovations come out of France?

*The below stuff is more specific, but you can probably just answer the title question directly and be helpful :) (I know it's a lot to read.) I was arguing with a friend about drug companies in the United States. My argument was basically "drug companies aren't evil, they need to make a profit to make new innovations." Then my friend brought up the French health care system and how awesome it is (agreed.) Then he said that under that system [some large number] (25?) percent of new drugs came from France. I've been looking online and I can't find anything to support his claim. I believe this is because when I type "drugs" into google, most of the websites are talking about illicit drugs, so I'm not claiming it's not out there, I just can't find it. A sort of pie chart or graph would be the coolest, but anyway you can convey the information is fine! Please sight your sources, because my friend already gave me the information, I just want to confirm/understand it! Although, all (helpful) conversation on the topic is appreciated. Secondly, (if you would like to be super helpful!) do drug companies in France make the same profits, or are they highly regulated and controlled by the government? My understanding is that the taxes people pay for insurance in France is hefty (although much less than the US.) Does this help support a market system for the creation of drugs, or is it more social? Thanks! *This doesn't really add to my question, but in case you are interested in the topic, something I forgot to consider earlier was that French companies probably make a lot of there money in the States, so I should look at how much of the revenue comes from the US and how that compares to France per capita.

Public Comments

1. I think the French developed a drug to overcome cowardice in battle. Unfortunately, it proved to be ineffective. I'm not aware of any others.
2. http://www.linkedin.com/directory/companies/pharmaceuticals/paris-france.html Saniofi-aventis makes Ambien the #1 sleeping pill. The above link are the pharmaceutical companies in france and if you click on them, there are charts. Every system has its ups and downs. They have a social system and of course there are elite groups and pay scales that get to do more and receive more than their maids. They have been quite successful in exportation of their pharmacy products. Like all European countries, they have immigration which is good. They are very successful and strict about work permits which keep costs down. We on the other hand do not enforce our laws of our own system nor enforce work permits. This system needs to get a temporary social security number and pay taxes into the system. That is one factor in costs and health care.
3. I don't really have an answer to your question, but if you search for "pharmaceuticals" or "medications" or even "medical breakthroughs" instead of searching for "drugs" you'll probably get better results. I searched for "international pharmaceutical companies" and the following wiki page came up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pharmaceutical_companies Although it says it is "ranked by healthcare revenue" so I'm not sure how useful it will be to you. Unless your friend has some reliable information(sources), I wouldn't believe the 25% figure. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.