The good news: scientists have decoded the genome of the common cold, which could allow us to create a cure for rhinovirus. The bad news: it doesn't really matter.

First, the good news. After sequencing the rhinovirus genome, scientists found a portion of the genetic material which remains unchanged in all cold viruses. This part is crucial to the survival of the cold virus, which is why it doesn't mutate the way the rest of the virus's DNA does.

The rhinovirus's ability to mutate its DNA is part of why the cold has been a moving target for researchers for so long. In fact, conventional wisdom held that there would never be a cure for the common cold. Now that we know the virus's base DNA, we can craft drugs to target it.

The problem comes at the intersection of this amazing new discovery, and the reality of the market. Developing a new drug is fantastically expensive, and most drug manufacturers think carefully before they begin the process. Most pundits feel that the common cold is not bothersome enough that most consumers would be willing to pay a high price for a drug to treat it.

The track record of "medicine for things that are not that bad" is very poor. Tamiflu and Relenza, drugs which help abate influenza, are both considered disappointments on the market. In early 2005, Roche Holding, the manufacturer of Tamiflu, announced early projections that sales would hit SFr 1.2 billion in its first year on the market. Despite a bump in sales after the bird flu scare, demand for Tamiflu has declined steadily. Sales peaked at SFr 1.5 billion in 2007, but declined by 60% in the 3rd quarter.

Sales figures for Relenza, the first (and less popular) flu medicine, have followed the same curve - a peak as governments stockpiled the medicine against a possible bird flu pandemic, then a steady decline. Biota Holdings, the maker of Relenza, posted a net loss of $659,000 in the first half of 2001, and sales of Relenza dropped 50% in the second half of the same year.

Both Tamiflu and Relenza have proved to be valuable drugs for asthma sufferers, but not nearly as popular for the majority of the population. A possible link between Tamiflu and suicidal ideation in children (including the suicides of several Japanese teenagers) certainly didn't help Tamiflu's sales.

Although most people would not pay for a drug to fight the cold, they might be willing to pony up for a cold vaccine. Unfortunately, because rhinovirus settles into the mucus membranes of the sinus cavities, a vaccine cannot be developed, because vaccines can't affect what goes on there.

The best news to come out of this new discovery is that it opens the door to research of more serious diseases, such as viral pneumonia. And since a true cold medicine would benefit asthma sufferers, drug manufacturers may research which of the strains of rhinovirus is most troublesome to asthma patients, and develop medicine specifically for those strains.