Meanwhile, the agency's median total approval time has been cut in half to 12 months in 1998 from 24 months in 1993. Based on those factors, the outlook for the drug business has perhaps never looked brighter. For investors, the increasingly important role that drugs are playing and will continue to play in the lives of large numbers of Americans represents a fertile opportunity. From our point of view, there are few business areas offering more promise for high returns on investment in the years to come than pharmaceuticals. It's a fair bet that at some point in your life, drugs will play a crucial role in either improving or prolonging the life of at least one close friend or loved one, or quite possibly even yourself.
Few products offer so much promise for bettering the general human condition.
Few products offer so much hope to so many. And in a conference call yesterday, those managers underscored the important role that drugs will play in the future growth of the company. Extending those types of market share gains and growth rates is a primary goal of the company right now. That bigger presence, coupled with healthy demand from consumers, has helped drive market share gains for the company's major products, which in turn has driven the volume growth and revenue gains that we are seeing. In the pipeline, the company is working on lower dosage versions of Risperdal and a topical gel called Regranex for treating diabetic foot ulcers.