FDA accepted 19 drugs in 2007, fewest approved since 1983

According to the article more emphasis was placed on additional use for existing drugs...BD

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration approved 19 new drugs in 2007, the fewest in 24 years, after drugmakers focused on developing uses for existing products.  The number of new medicines, including those made with novel chemical ingredients and using biotechnology, was three fewer than in 2006. Last year's approvals were tallied by analyst Ira Loss, and the FDA declined to confirm the numbers.

Companies shifted emphasis to altering drugs and seeking more diseases to treat with them, at the expense of developing new products, said Kenneth I. Kaitin, director of the Tufts University Center for the Study of Drug Development in Boston.

"They got away from their core mission, which was to bring new medicines and new treatments to market," Kaitin said.

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