Call for overhaul of drug industry business model

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) – Pharmaceutical companies need to boost the benefits of drug research by working with regulators and healthcare providers to overhaul the way medicines are approved and paid for, a thinktank backed by investors says. After years of disappointing research and development (R&D) productivity, a new report backed by leading institutional investors sees “early indications of a recovery”, with U.S. approvals of new drugs last year the highest since 1996. …