The Audio Long Read Many life-saving drugs fail for lack of funding. But there’s a solution: desperate rich people
Apr 28, 2025
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Funding Gap Kills Drugs
- Many promising drugs fail not due to inefficacy but lack of funding for further trials.
- The "valley of death" describes the funding gap between discovery and late-stage clinical trials.
Desperation Powers Funding
- Desperation is a powerful financial motivator, stronger than greed or altruism.
- Charging desperate rich patients to join trials offers a new, overlooked funding source.
Trial Funded, Lives Lost
- Alexander Masters raised over £2 million from a wealthy patient to fund a trial for his dying friend.
- Sadly, both the patient donor and the friend passed before the trial began.