ABSTRACT
3Modern drug discovery, fueled by high throughput technologies, combinatorial chemistry, rational drug design, and increasingly powerful information processing, has become progressively efficient and productive. So much so, that the number of new cancer therapeutics in development doubled over the span of a decade. 1 As of 2015, there were 836 individual cancer drugs at various stages in the pipelines of America’s biopharmaceutical companies, including 83 for breast cancer and 132 for lung. 2 An estimated 80% of these are first-in-class therapies and 73% are potential “personalized” medicines. 3 On paper at least, we have an embarrassment of riches. But it is a different story in practice.
