Top drugmakers set up non-profit TransCelerate to speed pharma R&D
Baku, September 25 (AZERTAC). Some of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies have formed a non-profit organization to accelerate the development of new medicines. Abbott Labs, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Genentech (a member of the Roche Group) and Sanofi have launched TransCelerate BioPharma, the largest ever initiative of its kind, to identify and solve common drug development challenges with the end goals of improving the quality of clinical studies and bringing new medicines to patients faster.
Through participation in TransCelerate, each of the 10 founding companies will combine financial and other resources, including personnel, to solve industry-wide challenges in a collaborative environment. No figures on funding having been revealed. Together, member companies have agreed to specific outcome-oriented objectives and established guidelines for sharing meaningful information and expertise to advance collaboration.
The collaborative effort comes against a background of declining research productivity and generic competition across the industry and in the face of rising R&D costs. According to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), including all the compounds that have fallen by the way side, the cost of bringing a new drug to market has gone up from around $140 million in the 1970s to more than $1.2 billion at present.
"There is widespread alignment among the heads of R&D at major pharmaceutical companies that there is a critical need to substantially increase the number of innovative new medicines, while eliminating inefficiencies that drive up R&D costs," said newly-appointed acting chief executive of TransCelerate BioPharma, Garry Neil, a partner at Apple Tree Partners and formerly corporate vice president, Science & Technology, of Johnson & Johnson. "Our mission at TransCelerate BioPharma is to work together across the global R&D community and share research and solutions that will simplify and accelerate the delivery of exciting new medicines for patients," he added.
TransCelerate was incorporated in early August 2012 and will file for non-profit status this fall. The board of directors includes R&D heads of 10 member companies. Membership in TransCelerate is open to all pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies who can contribute to and benefit from these shared solutions. TransCelerate's headquarters will be located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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