Mid-1800s – 1945: From botanicals to the first synthetic drugs
The modern of pharmaceutical industry began with local apothecaries that expanded from their traditional role distributing botanical

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Drug discovery is the process by which potential drugs are discovered or designed. In the past, most drugs have been discovered either by isolating the active ingredient from traditional remedies or by serendipitous discovery. Modern biotechnologyoften

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In the United States, new pharmaceutical products must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration(FDA) as being both safe and effective.

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In 2011, global spending on prescription drugs topped $954 billion, even as growth slowed somewhat in Europe and North America. The United States accounts for more than a third of the

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Drug marketing and lobbying
There has been increasing controversy surrounding pharmaceutical marketing and influence. There have been accusations and findings

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Patents
Patents have been criticized in the developing world, as they are thought to reduce access to existing medicines. Reconciling patents and universal access to medicine would require an efficient international policy of

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Advertising is common in healthcare journals as well as through more mainstream media routes. In some countries, notably the US, they are allowed to advertise directly to the general public. Pharmaceutical companies generally employ salespeople (often

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