Shorter Path to Drug Discovery share research on failed compounds between companies the new MIT lead approach-
Posted on November 18, 2009 by Albin Paul . 

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have, started a pharmaceutical innovation program to help drug companies adapt some successful approaches now used in aeronautics, like lean management and information-sharing among rivals.  more:  http://web.mit.edu/cbi/research/newdigs.html

The M.I.T. initiative, called NEW Drug Development ParadIGmS or NEWDIGs has garnered the support of

•Aetna
•Bayer Healthcare
•Brookings Institution
•Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
•Eli Lilly and Company
•U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
•Johnson & Johnson
•Medco Health Solutions Inc.
•Pfizer Inc.
•Quintiles Transnational Corp.
•Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.
•WellPoint Inc.

One short-term goal is to identify, and rectify, the root causes of bottlenecks in the existing system. Longer term, the ambition is to create new prediction models, new ways to share information about the biology of diseases, and a new inclusiveness involving earlier participation of regulators, health insurers, health care providers and patients.

So How do they plan to change the way we conduct drug discovery and developement?

1. share information about compounds they have tried and shelved, for reasons like toxicity or inefficacy.

Results of clinical trials are availale online for free, whether or not they succeed. But no pharma company talks about projects that fail at an earlier stage. A result is that companiesother waste many millions going down experimental paths that their competitors have already tried and failed.

http://web.mit.edu/cbi/research/newdigs.html