FORUM HOME

 The Institute of Medicine (IOM)
Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation
Presents the First Meeting in the Forum’s
Biomedical Science & Policy Discussion Series

From Patient Needs to New Drug Therapies
Can We Improve the Pathway?

Friday, September 14, 2007, 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m.
500 5th Street, Room 100, NW
Washington DC 20001

CLICK HERE FOR AGENDA, AUDIO WEBCAST, AND SLIDES

The Institute of Medicine's Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation presented the first in a new series of public discussions on issues in drug-related science and policy on September 14. 

While genomics and emerging technologies in drug development have produced extraordinary new knowledge, translation of this knowledge into new drugs for specific diseases has been in some cases painfully slow.  This session examineD new drug development from the patient perspective, drawing on case studies from several disease categories. 

A distinguished panel of experts presentED the prospects for new drug therapies and discuss ways in which their development can be accelerated. Questions addressed includeD: where along the pathway— from discovery to development and translation—are the key roadblocks to the development of new therapies?  Are good decisions being made about which drugs to target and develop?  Are the drug trials that patients are asked to participate in worth the risk, given the sometimes modest improvements that new drugs offer?  Does the current model for drug development adequately reward the search for truly innovative drugs, or are there alternative financing models that can provide better financial incentives?  What role should Congress play in improving the pathway to new drug therapies?  

FORUM HOME