Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
opportunities in the biology and mechanisms of diseases. The picture is com-
plicated because although initiatives like the IMI and SNP consortium are
clearly seen as precompetitive by the large pharmaceutical companies, small
biomedical companies with novel biomarkers or data- mining algorithms
might set the precompetitive boundaries differently to protect their IP. A
recent meeting sponsored by the Wellcome Trust on the precompetitive
boundaries highlighted some of these issues and identifi ed some areas for
future focus (Precompetitive Boundaries and Open Innovation in Drug
Discovery and Development meeting, June 2010).
There will also be an increasing need for intermediaries such as the CPI or
the EBI. Such neutral third parties can reduce the bureaucracy of intercom-
pany collaboration through the use of standard agreements [7, 20] and allows
an interface with members of the scientifi c community. In addition, the number
of other non - for - profi t organizations such as Sage Bionetworks (www.sagebase.
org) is likely to increase, and one of the challenges will be making sure that
these repositories allow the cross talk mentioned above, through the common
implementation of standards.
Some of the breadth and depth of the existing precompetitive space can be
seen in the summaries of some of the major partnerships in the Appendix as
well as the preceding descriptions of the IMI and SGC. Ten years ago such a
wealth of precompetitive activity would have been unthinkable. This chapter
began with the reasons for change in the industry and the recognition that the
current process is not fi nancially sustainable. The precompetitive agenda will
continue to evolve and drive changes in the drug discovery and development
process—the skill will be in fully leveraging the opportunities presented to
really accelerate new medicines development. If this can be achieved, it will
have benefi ts for both industry and society as a whole.
APPENDIX SUMMARY OF PRECOMPETITIVE CONSORTIA
THE BIOMARKERS CONSORTIUM:
WWW.BIOMARKERSCONSORTIUM.ORG
Members/
participants
In 2010 there were 56 contributing members, including:
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the National
Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), Althea Technologies,
AstraZeneca, Avalon Pharmaceuticals, BG Medicine,
Boehringer - Ingelheim, Bristol - Myers Squibb, Digilab
Biovision GmbH, EMD Serono, Roche, Genstruct,
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), GVK BioSciences, Ingenuity
Systems, J&J, Lilly, Luminex, Lundbeck, Merck,
Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfi zer, Rules - Based Medicine,
Pfi zer, and a multitude of nonprofi t and trade
organizations
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