The pharmaceutical industry is made up of hundreds of companies that discover, develop, produce, and sell drug products.
These products are used by health professionals to prevent and cure some diseases and relieve symptoms of other ailments. Throughout the 20th century and especially from the 1940s on, members of the industry have discovered new drugs that cure previously incurable diseases, prevent diseases that are epidemic in nature, reduce the frequency and length of hospital stays, and increase life expectancy.
Drug
Discovery A large majority of new drugs are discovered and developed by the pharmaceutical industry. Historically, most of these discoveries have been the result of massive chemical syntheses or natural compound extraction programs and subsequent pharmacological screening efforts. This technique is still used today, especially in the search for naturally occurring compounds in previously uncharted locales, such as plants from rain forests. Highly advanced technology, such as recombinant DNA, is being used in order to improve such drugs as insulin, interferon, and certain hormones. Computer-aided design is also finding growing use in drug discovery. Databases consisting of numerous chemical combinations and their actions are used to design rapidly, by computer, a large number of compounds whose affinity for specific biochemical receptors can be
predicted. Following synthesis of the key compounds, these predicted actions can be tested in vivo. Genetic engineering and extraction of drugs from microorganisms have also resulted in the discovery of numerous active compounds.