Clinical Trials

R&D in Healthcare
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R&D in Healthcare
The healthcare industry is one of the most critical industries in the current world. Over the years, processes performed in this industry have made healthcare better thus increasing the life expectancy of people all over the globe. One of the most significant processes in this industry is the R&D (Research and Development) investment. This process in responsible for coming up with innovative products for the medical industry. Through the new products resulting from the process, various ailments can be taken care of more efficiently thus revolutionizing the industry.
The R&D process involves five crucial stages. The first stage is where the new medical product is discovered while the second phase involves pre-clinical experiments. The third stage is where clinical experiments are carried out before moving on to the fourth stage where the FDA approve/give consent on whether the product is safe to be produced or not. After approval, the new product is produced and thus ushering in the fifth stage where more surveillance is done in the market to determine how the product is performing (DELMAR CENGAGE LEARNING, 2010).
Despite the numerous benefits that can be linked to the R&D process, there are also some downsides in this area. Some of this include; it is time-consuming since it may take up to fifteen years. The process is also very expensive since an average of about $1.3 billion is invested before successfully coming up with a product and even then only 20% of the products are approved (DELMAR CENGAGE LEARNING, 2010).

This means that every R&D project undertaken suffers a high risk of failure and even after making it to the market, the products further face fierce competition from the generic brands that soon catch up with it. However, the few projects that are successful are usually worth the investment since they are the one to whom the evolutionary change in the industry can be attributed.References
DELMAR CENGAGE LEARNING. (2010). Clinical Trials. Cengage Learning, ppt.