Activity

Shortening the Time Line for New Cancer Treatments

Type:

Consensus Study

Topic(s):

Biomedical and Health Research, Diseases

Board(s):

Studies under the IOM Executive Office

Activity Description

This study analyzed the process of cancer drug development and aimed to identify ways to increase the efficiency with which new drugs are developed, tested, and brought to the patient. The committee reviewed briefly the history of cancer drug development and changes in science that impacted the way that new cancer drugs may be developed.

The study examined the steps in cancer drug development and aimed to identify impediments that might be amenable to changes. There was a major emphasis on issues of intellectual property. To a more limited extent, the committee also examined the business challenges and impediments to cancer drug development in the current industrial climate.