Most people in pharma are aware that R&D costs are rising, both in dollar terms and in development timelines. But the reaction is less well-known: risk is being front loaded to Phase I and relative success rates have fallen by around 15%.
More promisingly, the average launch fares better today, now sitting at $1.6bn after seven years. That sounds like good news until you set it against a $500bn industry-wide patent cliff, and then it looks like a number that needs a lot of company.
These are some of the tensions at the center of our new report, the Pipeline-to-Patient Productivity Index. Spending more, waiting longer, filtering harder, and still needing more from the launches that make it through. What the index doesn’t do is tell any single company what to do about it. That part is a conversation, and the best ones I’ve had since publishing have been with people who sit at the sharp end of those decisions.
So, I’m pleased that Evaluate is hosting a small, invitation-only breakfast as part of London Life Sciences Week. The Evaluate Leaders Forum is for senior leaders in corporate strategy, business development, and finance, the people who turn pipeline assumptions into capital allocation. I’ll share some of the highlights and implications from the report, and we’ll be joined by a leading figure from the pharma industry for a fireside chat. We’ll be announcing our guest shortly.
Mostly, though, I’m looking forward to the room itself. A morning with people who see this from different angles, with time to talk properly, is a rare thing in a week of full diaries. I have a few theories about where the industry goes from here, and I’d like to have them tested.
If you’d like to be part of the discussion, and are a senior leader in corporate strategy, business development, or finance, register your interest for the Evaluate Leaders Forum below and we’ll be in touch.
