Prof. Andy Whiting, Nevrargenics, responds to the lack of translational funding for the biotech industry, and what more needs to be done to close the gap between drug development and clinical trials, to ultimately address the urgent need for novel treatments for complex diseases.
Key insights:
- The gap in translational funding means that many promising drug candidates fail to progress from the drug development stage to the clinic.
- Allowing increased exposure to early-stage drug development would unlock huge sums to fund vital research and gives investors a chance to make extraordinary returns if they back the right companies.
- Clinical trial design needs rethinking to shorten timeframes and enable drug candidates to ‘fail fast’ as lengthy and complex trials yield the most expenses.
- Rethinking the risk vs. reward ratio for investment and investors, may incentivise capital to be deployed into less certain, but socially valuable, R&D activity.
The recent Budget announced several measures designed to support innovation-led businesses, particularly early-stage companies. I was pleased to share my responses to the approval changes and R&D tax relief in the UK.