Billion dollar pills

“DEATH is optional,” says a smiling David Brennan. As an American, he is only half joking about his homeland's demands for a cure for everything. But as chief executive of AstraZeneca, a big British drugs firm, his brimming self-confidence is a reminder of the genuine long-term promise of the pharmaceuticals industry. The world will always need health care—and more and more of it as developed countries grow older and developing nations grow richer. The demand for new drugs can only increase.