Everyone knows about the Pharma industry’s R&D productivity woes, but few seem to have solutions that work. Part of treating the problem requires an accurate diagnosis, and this winter’s work in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery by Scannell et al from Sanford Bernstein (a must read) does a good job of explaining a number of possible drivers: the ‘better than the Beatles’ problem; the ‘cautious regulator’ problem; the ‘throw money at it’ tendency; and the ‘basic research–brute force’ bias. Others covered the piece with additional superb commentary here, and here.
