In 2010, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has approved the lowest number of new drugs in the last decade. This is not surprising, considering that it takes at least 10 years to register a drug, the total cost is about one billion dollars, and that at least 9 out of 10 of those for which clinical development is initiated, fall by the wayside. Some striking example? Rimonabant for obesity and metabolic syndrome, the monoclonal antibody ocrelizumab for rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.