Page 13 - CIMA SCS Workbook November 2018 - Day 1 Tasks

NOVAK PHARMACEUTICALS FAMILIARISATION

against copycats – up to 35 years. A summit of World leaders is to be held soon at which pharma
companies may be given further incentives, or even legally compelled, in such areas.

Availability to poorer economies
Due to the high costs of development, pharma companies charge high prices on the drugs they
successfully bring to market. This can put them out of the reach in poorer parts of the world, as
the governments of developing economies simply do not have the funds to buy. There is
therefore the ethical question of pursuing profit versus peoples’ lives.

Diversification

At present Novak is only involved in making pharmaceutical products. It does not deal in Over The
Counter medicines, nor does it make generic products i.e. copy drugs developed and produced by
other pharma companies but which no longer have patent protection. Both of these represent an
opportunity to Novak.

Ethics in general
There are lots of ethical issues running through this case – testing on animals, pricing policy,
lobbying regulatory bodies, deciding which disease areas to research, impact on the environment
of manufacturing drugs etc.

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