Drugs developers and manufacturers are currently forming a new contract with society regarding what they bring to health systems and the new products with pharma labels that come on to the market.

This is according to Richard Barker, who until recently was head of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, who told the Daily Telegraph that the sector also had to work on the tangible outcomes for patients.

He observed that many firms are looking for a better return on their investment when developing products that may need pharmaceutical labels in the future.

"We're moving progressively from a model where most of the large companies did most of their research and development internally to an innovation ecosystem model," Dr Barker stated.

He added that large firms are increasingly working with universities, research charities and smaller organisations.

This comes after Dr Jon Duke of the Regenstrief Institute and the Indiana University School of Medicine and lead author of a recent report published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, suggested that pharma labels should be simplified to present information in a way that suits patients' needs.

Denny Bros Ltd, 01 June 2011