DRUG DEVELOPMENT IN GASTROENTEROLOGY - THE CHANGING VIEW OF INDUSTRY

Rationalization within the pharmaceutical industry to combat escalatin g costs has included the close examination of research portfolios. Gas troenterology has been one of the casualties of this exercise and few companies currently retain a specific gastrointestinal research progra mme. Acid-peptic disease has been the victim of its own success, since the availability of a range of extremely effective drugs largely sati sfies current medical needs. A safe, convenient and effective monother apy able to eradicate Helicobacter pylori would be a commercially viab le alternative to antisecretory drugs, leading to further expansion of the anti-ulcer market. The irritable bowel syndrome is probably too d iverse a target for logical research; inflammatory bowel disease is pr obably too small a market to be attractive. Potentially effective drug s to treat these and other gastrointestinal diseases could emerge from broader research programmes, provided that companies retain the exper tise and desire to develop such agents for gastrointestinal indication s. Cancer of the gastrointestinal tract and associated organs undoubte dly represents a commercially attractive target, but new anti-tumour d rugs are more likely to arise from generic research rather than progra mmes specifically directed at tumours of the gastrointestinal tract. T he changing view of the pharmaceutical industry towards the developmen t of gastrointestinal drugs is likely to have a negative impact on bot h fundamental and clinical research in gastroenterology.