The Path To Productivity: Tackling The Crisis In Drug Development Using Improved Preclinical Models

The productivity of drug development has sharply declined over the past seven decades. Productivity measures the efficiency of drug development, often quantified by the number of drugs brought to market relative to the effort or investment expended.

Across various medical fronts, such as treating neurodegenerative diseases, stemming the spread of infectious agents, or fighting cancer, there remains a persistent need among patients for new and innovative therapeutics. When productivity lags, developers encounter heightened expenses and slower progress, resulting in increased drug costs for patients awaiting much-needed therapeutic relief.

Identifying the factors contributing to our current productivity crisis—termed "countervailing forces"—has proven challenging, a puzzle that figures like Scannell and numerous others strive to solve. Among the potential causes identified, improving the accuracy of preclinical models stands out as having the most profound impact. Discover how improving preclinical models holds the key to solving the challenge at the heart of drug development.