The thing about clinical trials, is there is a minimum time it takes to run one. You can up concurrency but it only gets you so far - you really need to know the long term impact before you can iterate much.
The thing is honestly, we make incredible progress every decade. What's important is doing it carefully, correctly, and investing in the right areas to make real positive change (less viagra and hair loss probably).
Just a decade ago, Hepatitis C wasn't curable in nearly 100% of patients (in 12 weeks with limited side effects!). It isn't great news cycle content to focus on rehashing the great achievements we have recently made.
It's heartbreaking to have such a methodical approach for sufferers now of course.
I work in the industry and I agree we make remarkable progress now. And for some technologies like CAR-T and gene therapy, we’ve just started.
Your HCV example is a great one. Before the anti-virals, it was interferon. You had to take it for months and from talking to people, it makes you feel like you have the flu...for months. The label actually describes a risk of suicide. It’s a very rough drug to be on and the cure rate is <50%. And that’s if you stick with it, which many people don’t.
Today, we have regimens that are weeks in length, minimal side effects and 99% cure rates across all genotypes.
You’re talking about going from a very difficult to cure, chronic condition that can lead to liver failure or liver cancer to just being cured after 12 weeks.