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Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 8, 533–534 (1 July 2009) | doi:10.1038/nrd2923

The 'big pharma' dilemma: develop new drugs or promote existing ones?

Dan Weiss , Prasad Naik & Ram Weiss

Pharmaceutical companies decide how much to invest in developing new drugs and promoting existing ones, thereby influencing the rate of drug discovery and the state of biomedical research funding. The relative emphasis on innovation compared with marketing depends on how these activities affect the short-term profitability and the long-term value of the company.