The Challenge
Drug development is slow, costly, and inefficient. Despite advances in biomedical research, many promising therapies fail late in clinical trials because current preclinical models do not reliably predict human responses.
As a result, large amounts of time and investment are spent on candidates that ultimately do not reach patients.
Key Challenges in Drug Development
The development of new medicines remains a slow, costly, and high-risk process. From early discovery through to clinical approval, most therapeutic candidates fail to progress successfully, highlighting the need for more predictive and efficient approaches to drug development.
10–15 years
Average time from discovery to approval
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$1–2 billion
Average cost of developing a new medicine
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~90% failure rate
Drugs that fail during clinical development
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Why Do So Many Therapies Fail?
Many therapies that show promising results in laboratory and animal studies do not perform the same way in humans. Current preclinical models often fail to fully replicate human biology, disease complexity, and therapeutic response.
This creates major challenges in predicting:
safety
effectiveness
drug distribution
As a result, many therapies fail late in development, after substantial time and resources have already been invested.
The Need for Better Translational Approaches
Inefficient therapeutic development delays access to new treatments and increases the cost of healthcare innovation. These challenges are particularly significant for conditions involving infection, inflammation, and antimicrobial resistance, where faster and more predictive approaches are urgently needed.
Improving how therapies are developed and tested could support:
- earlier intervention,
- more effective treatments,
- reduced development costs,
- and better outcomes for patients.