Drug Discovery


THE CANCER CONUNDRUM increasing clinical success by implementing improved methodologies in early phase drug discovery Using primary cells and 3D culture models to enhance cancer drug discovery


The high stakes of drug discovery and development lead pharmaceutical companies to be meticulous in ensuring a target is validated and that compounds are effective against this target in order to have the best chance of developing a successful drug. Taking into account the long-term investment of both time and money to find, test and develop a therapy for a disease like cancer, pharmaceutical companies need to better recognise the importance of using more robust methods, such as primary cells and 3D culture models, in early phase drug discovery to decrease the risk of late-stage failures.


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t is common knowledge that the drug discov- ery and development process endures a long pipeline and involves massive spend by phar-


maceutical companies. One drug can take 12-15 years from idea to launch, bringing the total cost of a single drug to more than $2 billion1-3. However, despite an investment of more than $600 million in R&D alone, only a small number of drug candi- dates make it through to validation and develop- ment. With data showing that only one out of every 5,000-10,000 screened compounds make it to FDA approval4, it is no wonder that companies experience low success rates, equating to lost expenditures and time. Drugs tend to fail due to either efficacy or safety


concerns. While focus tends to be directed towards late-stage drug development and clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy of a compound, the early stages of drug discovery are equally important in determining the success of the drug. The efficiency of each phase, from target discovery and validation


Drug Discovery World Spring 2018


to assay development and drug screening, are all crucial for deciding which drug target(s) pass into clinical development. Consequently, re-evaluating the steps needed to improve the early stages of drug discovery is an emerging trend among phar- maceutical companies, emphasising the creation of more accurate disease models as well as more con- sistent methodologies. The effort is undertaken to minimise the risk of late-stage failures, save time, reduce costs and reduce the use of animal testing. In an effort to improve the early phases of drug


discovery where costly infrastructure or appropri- ate expertise may not be available in-house, phar- maceutical companies are turning to outsourcing. However, academic laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, biotechs and CROs have their own approaches to cancer research. As a result, data from these various sources will have originated from different research methods and need stan- dardisation. For collaborations between groups to be successful, data must be generated consistently


25 By Lubna Hussain


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