Is pharma R&D productivity turning the corner?

According to new research from the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (CSDD), pharma’s R&D pipeline may be in the beginning of a rebound.

By Editor on May 16, 2006

According to new research from the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (CSDD), pharma's R&D pipeline may be in the beginning of a rebound. The group says top US drug companies have increased the number of new clinical trials by more than 50% since 2002 something Tufts says may be a bellwether of a possible resurgence in R&D productivity.

During 2003-2005, Tufts says, the rate at which top selling US drug companies initiated clinical trials for new drug candidates rose 52%, following a 21% decline from 1993-1997 and 1998-2002.

This robust improvement could be the start of a break-out from the R&D productivity doldrums that have plagued the major research-based pharma companies in recent years, says Kenneth Kaitin, Director Tufts CSDD.

Kaitin says the proof will be the ability of companies to avoid late-stage development terminations and boost overall clinical success rates. But it will take some time to determine how successful the current wave of investigational drug compounds will be, given that the average clinical phase for new drugs to receive market approval in the US is seven years.

The group also finds that the largest drug companies have expanded their reliance on in-licensed compounds. Tufts reports that the share of licensed compounds in the development portfolios of leading firms increased from approximately one in seven during the period from 1993-1997 to one in four during 2003-2005.

Among six broad therapeutic categories, oncology/immunologic and CNS had the greatest shares of new drug entering clinical testing from 1993-2002, while respiratory, oncology/immunologic and systemic anti-infectives had the highest clinical approval success rates for the period. Gastrointestinal/metabolism, CNS and cardiovascular drugs had the lowest.

The group says about 20% of self-originated new drugs that enter clinical testing received US marketing approval.

It's good to hear some potentially encouraging news about pharma's R&D pipeline. But it's too early to count our unhatched chickens. Gaining efficiencies and effectiveness in the industry's sales forces still makes good sense, even after pharma's drug pipeline returns to better health.

Responsible, sustainable sales and marketing spending practices will always be in fashion in pharma's new world.