International agenda for drug development highlighted at congress

During the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) 6th Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress (PSWC) global representatives from across various pharmaceutical sectors discussed a plan for the discovery and development of new medicines based on systems biology.

The panel of experts involved in the discussion represented the following areas, science, industry, practice and regulation within the pharma sector. They focused on numerous issues, including the scientific aspects that should be addressed and developed, how collaboration between scientists should be structured, as well as the education and training required by scientists so that people can benefit from this new field of medicine rapidly.

“Diseases and their treatments can no longer be thought of as single, isolated mechanisms. We are entering a new era of medicines — ‘systems therapeutics’ — which is based on our deeper understanding of disease networks and genetics,” said Professor Bert Leufkens, professor of pharmaceutical policy and regulatory science, Utrecht University, and chair of the discussion. “The scientific community and other stakeholders furthering it so that we ensure access to novel systems therapeutics for patients around the world.”

Professor Erem Bilensoy, president of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Sciences, added: “The scientific aspects that need to be addressed and developed to fully exploit the systems approach to drug development are a realistic and solid integration of pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics with drug delivery and drug design, incorporating engineering approaches to facilitate reproducible and cost-effective manufacturing of future medicines that are personalised. […] Open innovation and global collaboration is the required ecosystem to realise this goal.”

“It was the right time and place for this debate to have taken place,” summarised Leufkens. “We will now take the conclusions forward and produce a position paper presenting the scientific view on systems approaches to drug development in the context of global health. This document will be an advocacy tool for use in important interactions with policymakers and funders as we move into a new research agenda on drug development.”