The number of new drugs approved by the FDA fell to its third-worst record in 2007

According to preliminary FDA statistics, only 18 new drugs were approved for the market in 2007, including 16 new chemical entities, vaccines and two biological productsThat's the third-lowest figure in the past three decades, with 17 in 2002 and 14 in 1983The result is clearly not good news for the hundreds of thousands of pharmaceutical professionals in New Jersey, the "drug valley" of the United StatesIn the face of a depleted product line, pharmaceutical companies have taken drastic cuts and cut spendingStill, pharmaceutical companies have had to face increasing competition for cheap generics, and whether they can maintain their market share in their original best-selling drugs is a questionNew drugs are on the market, and pharmaceutical companies can only boost sales by expanding the adaptives of older drugsBut over the past few years the FDA has approved new drug indications, especially for expensive biologicsAn FDA spokesman said the data is not a final version and the final results will be released in MarchBut compared with the "heyday" of 53 new drugs in 1996, the pharmaceutical industry today can only bemoan the "bad years"