Therapy Analysis - Pharma R&D Annual Review
Cause for optimism
..it is refreshing to be able to report R&D data which should put a spring in the step of some executives in the pharmaceutical R&D industry..Overall, the 2007 review of trends in pharma R&D should provide considerable cause for optimism in the industry, after a number of years where the deceleration in growth generated increasing concern. There is an English phrase which should be applied though, and one which seems particularly apposite in April in London: "One swallow does not make a summer". This cautions that one year's worth of promising data does not mean an end to the industry's woes. Trends by their very nature only emerge over the course of a number of years, making next year's figures crucial in determining whether we are seeing a sustained recovery or whether 2007 is merely a blip. Certainly, there remains the problem of an unacceptably high rate of attrition at Phase II and a question over whether 30+ new NAS launches each year is sufficient. But it is refreshing to be able to report R&D data which should put a spring in the step of some executives in the pharmaceutical R&D industry nonetheless.
Ian Lloyd
Managing Editor
