how often are drugs approved?

Question: how often are drugs approved?
- Keywords:
  approved,
  drugs
Asked by mgc1995 to Charlotte, hannahmoir, Majid, Richard, Sam on 16 Mar 2016.
- Hannah Moir answered on 16 Mar 2016:
  
  Getting a drug approved on the market can take years and years of research but i’m not sure statistically how many of those make it into the general circulation of use. I imagine it is only a few types of drug formations er year. A pharmacist can help you answer this question!
- Sam Smith answered on 16 Mar 2016:
  
  Good question – drugs are approved all the time, usually by an organisation called the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (also called NICE). They approve drugs on the basis that they should costs less than £20,000 for every year of good quality life that they give the patient. So if they give a patient an extra 6 months of good life, the most it can cost is £10,000. This figure can seem a bit strange to think about, as we’re putting a price on life. But unfortunately we have limited resources and that’s what we’re left with. I’d say they’re approved every week at least!

Question: how often are drugs approved?