How a Mid-Market Biopharma Company Avoids the Risks of Being Wrong

“You can be wrong in academia, but it’s a huge risk to be wrong in drug discovery.”

—Roger Parker, Pre-Clinical Research Leader

Avoid the risks in late stage R&D

Roger Parker*, a leading pre-clinical research leader recently shared his advice on how to avoid costly mistakes when working in pharmaceutical and biotech companies in early-stage drug discovery. Investigating potential new molecules and validating methods of action are two of his primary tasks. To overcome the challenges of validation in early stage research, Roger needs access to reliable, up-to-date and comprehensive scientific information. He recognizes the dangers involved in not consulting full-text articles in his work: “You can be wrong in academia, but it’s a huge risk to be wrong in drug discovery.” Parker has witnessed how the failure to conduct thorough literature research in early-stage R&D can create significant problems in later phases. A pharmaceutical company he worked for earlier in his career bought a compound in Phase III but discovered in trials that patients did not tolerate it well. Parker’s team was able to develop a coated formulation for the compound, but its successful development required substantial  dditional investment. His experience illustrates the importance of consulting the literature from the outset. “Without thoroughly looking at the details, you can end up wasting a lot of money,” Parker notes. Relying only on abstracts and excerpted data in the early stage introduces the possibility of not recognizing a serious issue until later stages. “There’s a huge risk in not reading the full text and not having access to the graphs and the actual data to ensure you have the context and understanding as to why something was done and not just how.”

Improving early-stage viability time and costs

Science Direct helps Parker improve R&D productivity and make validation processes more efficient, resulting in time and cost savings. “Being able to review full-text articles online prevents you from moving into the next phase without being sure of what’s been done before and how well previous compounds or formulations worked,” Parker says. “The more vetted you are on the scientific front, the more viability you have in getting to later stages in the development process.” Another benefit of being well-vetted on the scientific front is that it can improve the rate of success in qualifying for government grants, compared to the competition. Non-dilutive funding from these sources can provide millions of dollars to support a start-up’s R&D efforts, without requiring the sale of company shares or the loss of control over the company.