Fibromyalgia Presents a Real and Significant Market Opportunity

Pardon me while I step upon my soapbox again. Excuse me while I clear my throat and take a sip of water. Give me just one moment to arrange my notes and organize my thoughts. Now please, stand back if you do not want to feel any of the vile comments I am about to spew forth. Here goes.

I HATE DRUG COMPANIES! I hate that their sole purpose is to profit off the needs and health concerns of the public. I hate that they view every illness as an opportunity to line their pockets. I hate that they perpetuate a culture of sickness by treating symptoms and not caring to find a cure. Why would they ever want to find a cure. A cure would be disastrous to their bottom line. I hate that they find a way to create need through their marketing and sales techniques. I hate that they look specifically for disease and illnesses that are marketable. I hate that they have now zoned in on Fibromyalgia and that FM is now the newest, trendy marketable disease. Don’t believe me? Well then let me share with you what the company analyst for Savella had to say.

Savella is the newest FDA approved drug for the treatment of Fibromyalgia. Cypress Bioscience and Forest Laboratories are partners in the creation of Savella. Here is what their analyst had to say:

“With the approval of Savella, we expect Cypress Bioscience to become one of the few profitable biotech companies starting in 2009,” Citi analyst Dr. Lucy Lu said in a note to investors. “Moreover, we view fibromyalgia as a real and significant market opportunity, which is large enough to support multiple successful drugs given the heterogeneous nature of the disease.”

I have bolded and italicized the part of the statement which infuriates me. They are letting their investors know that they have hit the disease jackpot – a real and significant market opportunity. Fibromyalgia is a complicated and multi-symptom disease, heterogeneous if you will,  and no two patients experience it the same way. What a wonderful opportunity these complexities present to drug companies. Savella is just the beginning, but if Savella only treats the pain symptoms of FM, then they will have to create a drug to treat the fatigue. And once they have succeeded in masking the pain and fatigue of FM, well then they can work on another PROFITABLE drug for the brain fog and cognition issues. With a disease like Fibromyalgia the opportunities are endless, and that is exactly what Dr Lucy Lu was expressing to their investors in the above statement. She is promising them multiple successful drugs for the treatment of Fibromyalgia.

I feel physically ill right now, but I am sure they are working on a drug for that too!

Well this is one Fibromyalgia patient who refuses to line their pockets. Call me silly, or stupid, or stubborn, but I will not be a passenger on their drug highway. This is the main reason I have made the decision to battle my FM without the use of prescription drugs. In no way am I critical of those of you who are taking prescription medication to treat Fibromyalgia. I know personally of many people who feel they could not function without them. I am not saying that there is not a need for drugs and drug companies, but I am angry and disgusted with the monopoly they have over healthcare. I believe the more profitable Fibromyalgia becomes, the more pressure drug companies will put on researchers and doctors to NOT find a cure. My abstinence will not give them any less power, but for now it is the only stance against them that I can take.

But as a side note, if you are looking to diversify your portfolio, stocks of Cypress Bioscience Inc. surged 33 percent after receiving FDA approval for Savella.