Table 2.
Distribution of the European Medicines Agency-approved therapeutic agents according to the degree of therapeutic innovation and the biotechnological source
| Disease seriousness | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drugs for serious diseases | Drugs for risk factors for serious diseases | Drugs for non-serious diseases | Total | |||||
| Therapeutic innovation | N | %* | N | %* | N | %* | N | %* |
| Biotechnological | 54 | 2 | 4 | 60 | ||||
| A | 15 | 27.8 | – | – | – | – | 15 | 25.0 |
| B | 11 | 20.4 | – | – | – | – | 11 | 18.3 |
| C | 1 | 1.9 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1.7 |
| Pharmacological | 9 | 16.7 | 2 | 100 | 1 | 25.0 | 12 | 20.0 |
| Technological | 18 | 33.3 | – | – | 3 | 75.0 | 21 | 35.0 |
| Nonbiotechnological | 86 | 14 | 16 | 116 | ||||
| A | 32 | 37.2 | – | – | 2 | 12.5 | 34 | 29.3 |
| B | 21 | 24.4 | 2 | 14.3 | 1 | 6.3 | 24 | 20.7 |
| C | 3 | 3.5 | 2 | 14.3 | – | – | 5 | 4.3 |
| Pharmacological | 20 | 23.3 | 7 | 50.0 | 6 | 37.5 | 33 | 28.4 |
| Technological | 10 | 11.6 | 3 | 21.4 | 7 | 43.8 | 20 | 17.2 |
| Total | 140 | 79.5 | 16 | 9.1 | 20 | 11.4 | 176 | 100.0 |
*
The percentages in columns are referred to the subtotals of biotechnological and nonbiotechonological substances within each group of disease seriousness.