Big Pharma Productivity Frameworks

Big Pharma Productivity Frameworks

Last updated: 14 November 2022

Productivity in big pharma has been a topic of ongoing discussion for at least the past two decades (1). In this article, I highlight the most informative big pharma productivity frameworks shared by AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Merck and Pfizer since 2010.

AstraZeneca 5R Framework:

Since 2005, the 5R Framework has enabled AstraZeneca to achieve industry-leading R&D productivity levels of 23% – defined as molecules progressing from candidate drug nomination to phase 3 completion –compared to a current pharma industry average of 14% (2, 3)

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Impact of a five-dimensional framework on R&D productivity AstraZeneca include: (i) Greater focus on disease and target validation; (ii) Expanding drug target classes to follow disease biology; and (iii) New projects more likely to use phenotypic screens

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Eli Lilly Chorus Approach:

Chorus takes the programme to an earlier investment decision in a shorter time & at a substantially lower cost—28?months and $6.3?million—than the more definitive Phase?IIb decision point in the conventional R&D?model. For all 41 Lilly-funded Chorus programmes to date, programmes that exited did so after a median of 331, 776 and 886?days as a result of definitive toxicology, clinical Proof of Mechanism-POM (17) and clinical Proof of Concept-POC (9) data, respectively (4).

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Merck's Portfolio Management and Translational Medicine Approach:

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Merck's Translational Medicine (TxM) Guide condenses the drug development process to asking the right questions to develop the right evidence at the right decision point timing to achieve three actionable aspirations: Trust in Target; Trust in Therapeutic Window; and Trust in Targeted Patient Population (6)

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Pfizer's 3 Pillar Framework:

In 2010, Pfizer’s end-to-end success rate was at 2%, less than half of the industry benchmark of 5% in the same year (7). By the end of 2020, Pfizer pharma had achieved an end-to-end [First-in-Human (FIH) to regulatory approval] clinical success rate of 21% (8).

In 2010, there were 139 compounds in Pfizer’s pipeline and its annual R&D investment was US$9.4 billion. By 2019, the company had reduced its pipeline to 71 compounds, approximately half the number of programs in 2010, and R&D investment declined to $8 billion (8).

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Please do let me know of any other pharma or biotech productivity frameworks not captured by this review. Many thanks in advance.

References

  1. How to improve R&D productivity: the pharmaceutical industry's grand challenge | Nature Reviews Drug Discovery
  2. Lessons learned from the fate of AstraZeneca's drug pipeline: a five-dimensional framework | Nature Reviews Drug Discovery
  3. turning-science-into-medicine.pdf (astrazeneca.com)
  4. A decade of innovation in pharmaceutical R&D: the Chorus model | Nature Reviews Drug Discovery
  5. Portfolio management in early stage drug discovery – a traveler's guide through uncharted territory - ScienceDirect
  6. Translational Medicine Guide transforms drug development processes: the recent Merck experience - ScienceDirect
  7. Can the flow of medicines be improved? Fundamental pharmacokinetic and pharmacological principles toward improving Phase II survival - ScienceDirect
  8. Achieving end-to-end success in the clinic: Pfizer’s learnings on R&D productivity - ScienceDirect

Additional Readings

Improving target assessment in biomedical research: the GOT-IT recommendations | Nature Reviews Drug Discovery (2021)

Open innovation and external sources of innovation. An opportunity to fuel the R&D pipeline and enhance decision making? | Journal of Translational Medicine | Full Text (biomedcentral.com)

Changing R&D models in research-based pharmaceutical companies | Journal of Translational Medicine | Full Text (biomedcentral.com)

Access and Commercialisation | The future of R&D innovation (pharmaphorum.com)

Unlocking Productivity in Biopharmaceutical R&D (bcg.com) (2016)

Progression-seeking bias and rational optimism in research and development | Nature Reviews Drug Discovery (2015)

What makes a good drug target? - ScienceDirect

An assessment of R&D productivity in the pharmaceutical industry: Trends in Pharmacological Sciences (cell.com) (2011)

Driving earlier clinical attrition: if you want to find the needle, burn down the haystack. Considerations for biomarker development - ScienceDirect (2007)

JCI - Drug discovery in jeopardy (2006)

FDA publishes analysis of the pipeline problem | Nature Reviews Drug Discovery (2004)

Paving the critical path of drug development: the CDER perspective | Nature Reviews Drug Discovery

Jordan Baechle, MD

Resident Physician, Scientist

2 年

Thanks for putting this together!

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