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One of the main driving forces for the integration of GM medicines is costs. Huge research and development costs have driven the price of pharmaceuticals record levels. Yet, even with this price rise, demand for these drugs has also been increasing. GM medicines may provide a way to lower prices and ensure there is enough supply of medicines to meet rising demand.

Two main production issues in drug development highlight the need for medicinal GMOs: Quantity and Efficiency. Both money and resources limit the quantity of drug that can be made in lab. Supplies, machinery and labor are incredibly expensive. Furthermore, laboratory methods can be highly inefficient and often have low yields. Scale-up costs expenses are compounded by these low yields (Walmsley, 2000).

GM medicines, either produced through plants or animals, can be easily scaled-up to produce large quantities at relatively low costs. Scale-up GM plants and animals simply means growing more crops in the field and breeding more animals. In addition, these plants and animals can be manufactured to produce high yields. High yields combined with cheaper scale-up costs means these GM medicines can better meet an increasing demand for medicines than traditional methods (Schillberg, 2003).

Cost Benefit Analyses of Different Medicinal Organisms

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This web page was produced as an assignment for an undergraduate course at Davidson College.

©Copyright 2004 Department of Biology, Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035
Send comments, questions, and suggestions to William Wood at wiwood(at)davidson.edu