Drug Companies Are Teaming With Academic Medical Centers to Create New Medicines, According to Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - Aug 7, 2012) - Drug developers are forging new ways to work with academic medical centers to create the next generation of breakthrough medicines, which is changing the way drug companies do science, according to a panel of leaders from the research-based drug industry recently convened by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

"The research complexities associated with the most challenging diseases and medical conditions means that few companies have the resources required to discover new molecules and then take them through clinical development and, ultimately, product launch," said Tufts CSDD Professor and Director Kenneth I Kaitin. "They are finding, however, that academic medical centers can provide a valuable way to bridge the gap between discovery and clinical development."

Roundtable participants acknowledged that drug developers face a two-fold problem: companies need to evolve their business model to speed creation of new, promising compounds at less cost, and they need to revamp their research models to better supply the R&D pipeline. The problem, Kaitin said, could not be more urgent, especially in light of expiring patents, more complex clinical trials, and a more demanding regulatory environment.

Among the key points made by the industry leaders, summarized in the August Tufts CSDD R&D Management Report, released today, were the following:

• Working collaboratively often entails a cultural change for drug companies and their academic partners, as companies shift from spending money to buy molecules developed by others to co-investing and collaborating to discover new molecules.
  
  
• Open innovation initiatives -- collaborative relationships with academic medical centers that support and complement internal company innovation -- are becoming more common, with the goal being to maximize cross-functional sharing of best practices, branding, and company resources, including IT, legal, discovery operations, and other areas of expertise.

SCHEDULED TUFTS CSDD EXECUTIVE FORUM ROUNDTABLES

Upcoming Tufts CSDD Executive Forum Roundtable meetings will focus on the following topics:

Sept. 13, 2012 - The Changing Landscape for Technical Services Outsourcing
Nov. 1, 2012 - Development Strategies for Companion Diagnostics
Feb. 21, 2013 - Managing Protocol Design to Improve Clinical Study Efficiency
May 16, 2013 - Partnerships, Alliances, Consortia, and Other Risk-Sharing Collaborations

ABOUT THE TUFTS CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF DRUG DEVELOPMENT

The Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (http://csdd.tufts.edu) at Tufts University provides strategic information to help drug developers, regulators, and policy makers improve the quality and efficiency of pharmaceutical development, review, and utilization. Tufts CSDD, based in Boston, conducts a wide range of in-depth analyses on pharmaceutical issues and hosts symposia, workshops, and public forums, and publishes Tufts CSDD Impact Reports, a bi-monthly newsletter providing analysis and insight into critical drug development issues.