State Of A Nation: The UK Is Facing Up To Global Drug Discovery Challenges

By Suzanne Elvidge, Contributing Writer
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The U.K. has a distinguished history in drug discovery, with 25 of the world’s top 100 most successful medicines discovered within its shores. This strength in discovery is continuing and has potential to benefit the industry worldwide, but isn’t without its challenges, from investment to long-term growth. Many of these challenges aren’t unique to the U.K., and understanding the problems and the potential solutions could help build a better drug-discovery process elsewhere.

The Medicines Discovery Catapult, a U.K. organization committed to collaborative R&D, and the U.K. trade body, the BioIndustry Association, are both committed to building on past success for future growth. This year saw the two bodies launch the State of the Discovery Nation 2018 report. Based on surveys and more than 100 in-depth interviews with senior executives at U.K. drug-discovery companies, the report looks at the current status of U.K. drug discovery and its challenges and opportunities.