The development of a new, innovative drug is a highly complex and cost-intensive technical task. It normally takes more than 10 years from initial idea to first approval of a drug. As the statutory requirements for patient safety have become ever more stringent in recent years, development expenditure has increased significantly. High investment costs needed to develop some drug products are estimated to be 1–1.6 billion US dollars, which can be amortized only after market launch (1). The race against…