The FDA just greenlit a new treatment for osteoporosis, a therapy for advanced bladder cancer, and a pill that can cure smallpox.
All of these discoveries were hard-won. Research for the osteoporosis treatment, for example, began in 1964 and included 19 clinical studies and 14,000 patients. But this drug is now a beacon of hope for the 10 million Americans living with osteoporosis.
Some lawmakers believe federally funded scientists develop new medicines solo -- and private-sector firms jump in after all the heavy lifting to manufacture drugs and profit.