Secrecy is hurting drug research

This article outlines many examples of a change of heart at pharma, which is learning to share its research.

Excerpt from Matthew Herper:

“The big question in the drug industry is why nobody seems to be able to invent any new drugs. Big Pharma is going to lose billions of dollars to patent expirations over the next five years, but fewer products are emerging from drug company labs, and those that reach the market are not selling as well as they used to. What has gone wrong?

One surprising answer: It may be that companies’ tendency to keep their research under wraps is holding them back. Secrecy leads companies to race down the same blind alleys, to miss opportunities and to understand biology less than they otherwise might.

Now former executives from companies including Merck and Genentech are pushing to open up many stages of drug development, from basic science to human research, in the hopes of ending this drought.”

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