It can trace its roots to Europe’s apothecaries in the Middle Ages and the 19th-century dye and bulk chemical producers of Germany’s Ruhr valley, but the pharmaceutical sector has become a significant global industry in its own right.

生物技术可溯源至中世纪欧洲的药剂师和19世纪德国鲁尔山谷的染料与散装化学品生产商，但制药业凭借自身努力已发展为一种重要的全球性工业。

Academic researchers and doctors make most breakthroughs, but the sector has supported the commercialisation of drugs that have contributed to a significant extension in the quality and length of life, with such benefits as higher productivity.

生物技术的大多数突破是由学术研究人员与医生取得的，但制药业支撑了药物的商业化，为大幅改善生活质量和延长寿命做出了贡献，其好处包括生产率提高等。

Drugs to reduce cholesterol and hypertension have eased the threat of heart disease. Treatments for asthma, HIV and rheumatoid arthritis have turned debilitating illnesses into more manageable chronic diseases. An effective cure for malaria exists and one for hepatitis C is in sight.

降低胆固醇与高血压的药物缓解了心脏病的威胁。针对哮喘、人类免疫缺陷病毒(HIV)和类风湿性关节炎的治疗手段已把使人衰弱的疾病转变成了更加可控的慢性玻现在已经有了治疗疟疾的特效药，治疗丙型肝炎的药物也很快就将问世。

The sector employs hundreds of thousands of skilled staff, pays large sums in taxes, supports a global ecosystem of suppliers and spends more than $40bn a year on research and development – typically 10-20 per cent of sales is reinvested, the highest proportion of any industry.

制药业雇佣了数十万技能娴熟的员工，缴纳了大笔税赋，支撑了全球性的供应商生态系统，每年投入400多亿美元用于研发，通常会将销售额的10%至20%用于再投资，这一比重超过其他任何行业。

But big pharma companies are victims of their own success. New scientific breakthroughs have slowed, while rising regulatory and other barriers increase the costs of clinical development.

但大型药企也沦为自身成功的牺牲品。取得新科学突破的速度已有所放缓，越来越高的监管及其他门槛增加了临床研发的成本。

Selling more high-priced, high-margin drugs has left a hole to be filled, with generic competition escalating and health services balking at the bill.

销售定价更高、利润率更高的药物留下了一个需要填补的窟窿，而非专利药物竞争加剧、医疗服务业不愿为此埋单。

The sector is busy trimming costs, re-examining pricing policies and outsourcing research to universities and smaller biotech companies.

制药业正在忙着削减成本、重新审议定价政策，并把研发外包给高校以及较小的生物技术企业。

Treatments to offset the effects of ageing remain one of the biggest research challenges. But big pharma itself is in search of a remedy for its own ageing process.

如何延缓衰老仍是一项重大的科研挑战，而大型药企也正在寻找延缓自身衰老进程的药方。