ABSTRACT
Why are pharmaceutical companies embracing translational medi-
cine (TM)? The answer is mainly because it is practical; they
must increase productivity and remain competitive. Drug develop-
ers seeking to improve R&D productivity are pursuing extrinsic
strategies, which include mergers and acquisitions, partnerships,
and licensing. At the same time they are looking to implement
intrinsic strategies, such as deciding which disease areas to pursue
through portfolio optimization, integration of tools, technologies,
approaches to development, and selection of appropriate mile-
stones. Companies need to make better decisions about what
targets to pursue, when and how to terminate specific development
programs, how to efficiently allocate resources, and what type of
development portfolio to build. Although many traditional drug
development approaches still have utility, they likely won’t produce
drug candidates at the pace the industry needs [1]. For one thing, the
medical information and research literature is so diverse, sometimes
contradictory, and becomes obsolete so fast that using it to assess
the commercial prospects of a medical product are generally confus-
ing, sometimes erroneous, and potentially dangerous. Translational
science, especially in medicine, is providing a better way to identify
promising molecules earlier in drug development by establishing
the drug’s risk/benefit profile earlier, for example, through the use
of biomarkers or better animal-to-human models [2]. In recent
years, all major pharmaceutical companies have implemented TM
activities in tandem with their traditional drug discovery and
development schemes. The mission of this new entity, which is
different from TM as an academic discipline, is simply to improve
predictability of the potential success of compounds as they transit
through the different stages of drug development toward fulfilling
a medical benefit [3]. While the mission of TM for industry is more
intensely and narrowly focused than it is for academia, industry is
motivated by much the same drivers and uses the same basic tools
as the academic discipline.