A thoughtful opinion piece on academic drug discovery in ACS Med Chem Letters by D.M. Huryn makes
interesting reading [1]. Much has been written about universities seemingly
seeking to duplicate commercial drug discovery efforts or entering into very
focused partnerships with ‘Big Pharma’. The author advocates a different
approach stating “rather than asking how a university
can mimic a drug discovery company, perhaps a better question is what unique
features inherent in an academic setting can be taken advantage of,
embellished, and fostered to promote drug discovery and encourage success?“ She goes on to emphasize some of the positive
characteristics of universities, including strong fundamental biological
research and the willingness to take risks.
Indeed, this is exactly what has been happening in many academic drug
discovery units, as revealed in a recent survey [2]. Rather than focusing on
validated compounds for chronic diseases of rich countries, as is the practice of
Big Pharma, academic drug discovery units tend to build on local basic research
and to place major emphasis on drugs for orphan diseases or diseases of less
developed countries. Moreover, while success for a drug company can only mean a
marketed drug, success in academic drug discovery can include the develop of
powerful chemical probes for basic biology.
There have been many discussions of the appropriateness of team-based
drug discovery in an academic environment that emphasizes individual
accomplishment. Certainly there have been some strains in some institutions in
this regard. However, as a faculty member at a university with a strong
academic drug discovery unit I have mainly witnessed a smooth integration of
academic basic science with the screening and discovery process. Likewise, many
students and postdocs who have had some exposure to the collaborative discovery
process come away the better for it, without compromise of their individual
research thrusts. Thus, overall it seems that academic drug discovery is here
to stay, that it will not supplant commercial drug discovery, but rather
provide an exciting and important complement.
[2] Frye, S. F.; Crosby, M.;
Edwards, R.; Juliano, R. US Academic Drug Discovery. Nature Rev. Drug Discovery
2011, 10, 409−410
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