Thursday, March 5, 2015
The International Galien Awards (Prix Galien) were established in France in 1970 by pharmacist Roland Mehl, promoting significant advances in pharmaceutical research. The Awards are named after Galen, a pioneer Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire, probably the most accomplished medical researcher of antiquity.
Therapeutic research is an expensive type of business requiring diligence, meticulousness and a lot of patience. Only one out of 10,000 medicines produced in vitro is eventually market-launched. As much as $27 billion are spent every year for the purpose of advancing therapeutic research. "Given the resources needed to produce a single medicine, it is understood why patents cost so much" says Dr. George Chrousos, a prominent clinical investigator. Greece has a low level of fund absorption for clinical research, amounting to a mere €80 million.
