Exclusive Web Content: Innovation and Future Focus

What needs to be done in the United States to boost pharmaceutical innovation?
“The innovation crisis is not restricted to the United States. At the core of the issue is the recognition that innovation is resource-intensive, risky, and fragile, and is also the source of the treatment breakthroughs that have and hopefully will allow all of us to lead healthier lives. It is also important to recognize that the innovation cycle is continuous and connected. You cannot squelch investment return at the product stage without squelching innovation at the earlier stages of biotech development and discovery. Financial resources are globally fluid and will flow to where they are appreciated and rewarded. Everyone, including regulators, legislators and administrations have to keep this prominently in mind and support innovation-stimulating policies, activities, and actions,” stresses Ryder.

If you were to start a new pharma or bio company today, what would it focus on?
“Exploiting personalized genomic-based signatures would be at the center of the mission. I have been singularly impressed by the increasing speed and markedly lower cost of genomic sequencing with goals of a few hours and a thousand dollars or less not far away. This increase in available data is being matched by an explosive increase in data-analysis computational ability. Putting the two together mandates that personalized genomic signatures will increasingly be linked to pharmacological outcomes,” recommends Ryder.