The World’s Medicine Chest: How America Achieved Pharmaceutical Supremacy―and How to Keep It

by Sally C. Pipes

In the 1970s, Europe was the global hub for pharmaceutical innovation. European drug companies developed more than twice as many drugs in that decade than their U.S.-based counterparts. But times have changed. Today, nearly half of all new drugs come from the United States. Just 22% are of European origin. And U.S. patients get access to innovative medicines before anyone else in the world. Drawing on her decades of experience as a health policy scholar, Sally Pipes will detail how America became the world's leader in biopharmaceutical innovation. She'll also argue that the efforts over the last few years by Democrats and Republicans alike to impose price controls on prescription drugs will have disastrous consequences for the U.S. economy and for patients. 

120 pages, Hardcover

Published February 4, 2025

Reviews

[Omair Ahmed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even as someone who agrees with many arguments in favor of Pharma R&D, this book struggled to present a neutral / convincing argument. As I read the book, I couldn't help but be astonished at how little she highlighted threats to the NIH by the modern GOP, and how much she defended poor approval decisions (e.g., look at some of the recent Alzeimer's drugs as great examples) as proof of American advantage in Pharma innovation.

I think there's a good argument to articulate why Pharma bashing has been overdone, but this book struggled to get out of its own way in highlighting that.