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Allergy ranks low in medical research
Thomas Platts-Mills, a University of Virginia professor of medicine, got very little from his university and has largely funded his own work through the NIH. A top 1% score on a grant earned him a merit award, which funds him for 10 years instead of five.
The drug industry is so powerful, and advertises so much, that guidelines tilt toward its studies. A guideline panel on asthma was told to focus on large controlled trials from the last five years, which basically means drug studies. The number of large controlled trials of tick avoidance is zero, because no one could afford them. Many company trials are me-too studies of a tiny variant of a previous drug.
Penicillin allergy research crosses infectious disease, allergy, surgery, obstetrics, and dentistry, and when disciplines cross, they compete. Blumenthal received the first penicillin allergy grant the NIH had funded in 30 years.
Why does research funding favor drug studies?
Pharmaceutical companies fund the large majority of clinical trials for new drugs, since a successful trial leads to a product they can sell. Trials of behavior, environment, or existing cheap drugs have no such sponsor. Public funding agencies like the NIH cover only part of that gap. The result is that evidence builds fastest for products that can be patented.
What is a me-too drug?
A me-too drug is a close chemical relative of an existing drug that works by the same mechanism. Companies develop them to share in a market that a first drug has already proven. They offer little new benefit in many cases, though some bring modest improvements in dosing or side effects. Reviews by independent drug bulletins have long noted how many new approvals fall in this category.
Why do NIH merit awards run ten years?
The NIH Method to Extend Research in Time, known as MERIT, award gives selected investigators with outstanding track records up to ten years of support. It is meant to give them stability to pursue long projects. Selection is usually based on a very high score at grant review. The award lets researchers skip the cycle of renewal applications that otherwise comes every five years.