Despite the remarkable pharmacotherapeutic progress of the last half century, no informed person doubts that further advances are desperately needed. Unless they are eradicated by surgery or radiotherapy, most cancers defy cure. AIDS continues to kill.
Antibiotic resistance demands replacements for old antibacterials.
Many neurologic diseases are poorly treatable, and the cruel deterioration caused by Alzheimer's disease is only slightly amenable to present-day treatment. The list of poorly treatable diseases is long and daunting. Past progress is no guarantee that future progress will take place. The seriousness of the challenges facing the global pharmaceutical industry presented by Professor Walker should not be underestimated, because today's threats to human health are formidable. A second given is the considerable variation in health care needs from country to country.