Open Source R&D: A Bold New Experiment for Pharma
Posted on Thu, Sep 29, 2011 @ 02:20 PM
Reuters has an interesting story about a revolutionary new approach to drug development that could lead to the emergence of an entirely new R&D model for the life sciences industry.
Looking for ways to improve R&D productivity, some pharmaceutical companies are pooling their resources and embarking on an open source, patent free approach to drug development. Similar to the model that brought us the Linux operating system and the Firefox web browser, leading life sciences companies including Eli Lilly, Pfizer, GSK and Novartis have invested in the international Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), a public-private partnership dedicated to the discovery of new medicines through open access research. The group has secured $49 million in new funding so far.
With all research findings made available to scientists all over the world without restriction, at least through to Phase II in clinical development, life sciences companies are hoping that an open source model will uncover new directions in research that can lead to innovative new treatments for cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and more. The hope is that individual pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies will be able to build on the open access research to develop products of their own. One of the key benefits of the open source model is in cutting out wasted time on the wrong molecules and duplication of effort, because everybody will have access to the same research.
This bold step raises a lot of questions, particularly about how life sciences companies will navigate IP issues, where the business opportunities will be for individual companies, and how they can be leveraged. But I think this is exactly the kind of creative, out of the box thinking that is necessary for a new model to emerge that will allow life sciences companies to thrive again. It also creates new opportunities for smaller companies. Open access to the same data and resources as everybody else results in a much more level playing field.
I salute the leadership of companies participating in this initiative for taking the risk, jumping into the unknown and trying to do something completely different. It is refreshing to see.