When it comes to new drugs being approved by the FDA, "innovativeness" is often defined as "a practical implementation or application of a concept which results in the introduction of new or improved goods or services."
But that's not always the case, writes Joshua Topolsky in the Washington Post.
Some drugs are simply better than existing drugs in one or more ways.
For instance, Coartem, an anti-malarial drug, is now available in a sweet, easy-to-swallowdispersible form that makes it easier for doctors and caregivers to give it to children.
Other drugs, like Gleevec for cancer, are considered "radical innovations" because they're able to significantly improve the health of cancer patients.
But the French government ranks drugs on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being a "major improvement" and 10 being a "moderate" or "minor" improvement.
Some drugs are considered breakthrough innovations because they're able to work in a different way than existing drugs.
Others are considered "incremental, substantial, or radical."
Click for Topolsky's full column.
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Caroline Diehl is a serial social entrepreneur in the impact media space. She is Executive Chair and Founder of the UK’s only charitable and co-operatively owned national broadcast television channel Together TV, the leading broadcaster for social change runs a national TV channel in the UK and digital platform which helps people find inspiration to do good in their lives and communities.