1. Identify and assess the relationship between global consumption of medicines and prevalence of diseases
1.1. Identify the most used medicines globally
1.2. Assess the regional differences in drug consumption
1.3. Identify the global diseases prevalence
1.4. Assess the regional differences in the disease prevalence
1.5. Relate the regional differences between drug consumption and diseases prevalence
2. Review which factors determine the selection of the therapeutic area in the development of medicines
2.1. Identify the therapeutic areas and the diseases for which drugs have been developed in the last decade
2.2. Describe the main characteristics of the diseases for which drugs have been developed in the last decade
2.3. Explain which factors determine the selection of the therapeutic area in the development of medicines
2.4. Review the concepts of orphan drug and orphan disease
3. Review the conflict between equity and commercial rights
3.1. Review the concept of patent and the international agreements that regulate drug’s patentability and its exceptions
3.2. Describe the concept of equity
3.3. Explain the influence of commercial rights on medicines accessibility
3.4. Analyse the conflict between commercial rights and the right to access medicines
4. Identify promotional strategies from drug development to drug marketing
4.1. Identify promotional activities of the pharmaceutical firms and describe the existence of an ethical code for the promotion of medicines
4.2. Recognize the concept of disease mongering and its interest in the drug development and drug consumption
4.3. Identify and define the main characteristics of the different commercial sources of information on medicines
5. Review the criteria to authorize drugs in the European Union and its consequences
5.1. Describe the criteria to authorize medicines in Europe and its effects on the market of medicines
5.2. Describe the therapeutic innovation concept
5.3. Examine the therapeutic innovation level of drugs recently marketed
5.4. Recognize the meaning of the WHO essential drugs list
6. Identify the need to have open access to the information gathered on the effects of medicines
6.1. Identify the accessibility to the premarketing clinical trials results in the main regulatory agencies
6.2. Describe the concept of publication bias and its impact on public knowledge regarding the efficacy and safety of drugs marketed