FIP concerned over slow down in development of new drugs

"It is a worrisome situation that innovation of new molecules is going down. We might need a lot of new molecules. We need new medicines," Ton Hoek, CEO and Secretary General of FIP, told reporters here at the ongoing World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences 2011.

The whole process of innovation is slowing down due to the high costs involved and also because of high demands of quality and safety, "which is of course right", he said.

"The same holds true for anti-biotics. There is an emergency situation where we see more and more resistance to anti-biotics. So, first of all, we need to use our existing anti-biotics responsibly. We should not use anti-biotics for
little bit of throat pain or cold and use it only when they are prescribed by the physicians," he stated.

The FIP is also working with WHO and other global agencies to check the problem of spurious drugs, he informed.