Yesterday, Ohio policymakers held a virtual meeting to discuss updates on prescription drug development, and BIO delivered important testimony on the drug R&D process and what it means for our industry’s unprecedented response to COVID-19.
It’s a long road from discovery to patient. The drug R&D process is extensive and expensive—and can take a decade or longer to get approval for a new medicine.
And the failure rate of drugs entering clinical trials? 90%.
Small biotechs lead the way in the clinical pipeline, with 70% of clinical trials conducted by small biotech companies, either in partnership with larger companies or solo.
And the unprecedented response to COVID-19 shows why good prescription drug policy matters. Companies large and small have been working together to develop antivirals, vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics, with more than 550 unique programs launched since January 2020.
Greg’s Take: Our smaller companies exist, in great measure, due to the investor community and their relationships with larger companies. This is the riskiest endeavor that we have ever undertaken, but we continue to flourish thanks to good public policy. – Greg Hoke, BIO’s Director of State Government Affairs
Check out BIO’s latest COVID-19 pipeline data at bio.org/covidpipelinetracker.
To learn more about the drug cost ecosystem, visit www.drugcostfacts.org.
More Health Care News:
Biopharma Dive: 5 FDA approval decisions to watch in the 3rd quarter
“The next few months could bring the first gene therapy for hemophilia, a new type of multiple myeloma drug and an additional treatment option for a devastating muscular condition. The Food and Drug Administration is set to make decisions on approval of all three, as well as on a closely watched arthritis pill and the first oral drug for spinal muscular atrophy, between July and September.”
Delaware Business Times [Opinion]: Public, economic health depends on thriving bioscience sector
“Even amid this crisis, bioscience remains strong. As of mid-May 2020, there were more than 400 drug programs in development aimed at COVID-19, including 100 vaccines and 135 antivirals.”
USA Today: Could a coronavirus vaccine rehab the pharmaceutical industry's reputation despite drug price increases?
“The pandemic ‘has driven the public eye onto what the biotech industry does, which is change the dynamic of a disease,’ said Jeremy Levin, chairman of BIO and author of the recently published book Biotechnology in the Time of COVID-19: Commentaries from the Front Line.”