DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION IN CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE - Innovation in the Biopharmaceutical Industry - page 31

DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION IN
CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE
DESMOND SHERIDAN
Department of Cardiology
National Heart and Lung Institute Imperial College London
St Mary's Hospital, Norfolk Place
W2 1PG London, UK
[e-mail]
The last century has witnessed groundbreaking advances in clinical medicine across the
entire diagnostic and therapeutic range, but inequities in access to these advances and
innovations continue to be a major challenge to our societies.
Innovations are often initiated by “eureka” moments of discovery, but realising their
full potential depend on a process of continuous incremental innovation and interaction
involving complex networks. When developing systems that reward, encourage, and sustain
medical advances, policy makers must recognise four important factors. First, “incremen-
tal” and “continuous” innovation is as important as “breakthrough” innovation. Second,
investment across the entire innovation process is needed. Third, the ability of physicians to
work across a wide range of scientific fields at “the bench and bedside” is critical to contin-
uous innovation. And fourth, final medical advance that can result from an initial discovery
may not be obvious and only occur following interaction with experts and innovations in
other fields.
Keywords : Innovation; incremental; eureka; cardiovascular; diagnostics; therapeutics.
Introduction
The past century has seen dramatic advances in clinical medicine across the entire
diagnostic and therapeutic range. In the last decades most developed countries have
enjoyed a substantial reduction in mortality from cardiovascular disease. These
achievements have resulted from (1) a better understanding of cardiovascular dis-
ease, (2) developments and innovations in diagnostic methods, and (3) new drugs,
technologies and surgical methods.
As impressive as past successes have been, the need for future advances is of
equal measure. Despite an approximate 50% reduction in deaths from coronary
heart disease in recent decades in most developed countries, it will remain the