Effective partnering of academic and physician scientists with the pharmaceutical drug development industry.

This manuscript briefly addresses the drug discovery and development process. It is a long road from the formulation of a good discovery idea to the acceptance of a new drug in the marketplace, and there are many challenges faced along the way to the patient. Collaborations and partnerships are an important part of this process. There are a variety of partnering opportunities, ranging from the discovery of novel technologies and drug targets to lead discovery, compound gifts, and external sourcing. These partnerships help increase confidence and improve decision making on issues of safety and efficacy preclinically, which can reduce attrition and expedite the provision of new quality drugs to patients more quickly and at lower costs. Collaborations involve addressing multiple issues that include infrastructure, safety, regulatory matters, intellectual property, technical and personnel considerations, source document capture and data analysis issues, and legal and strategic alliances. A number of success factors are identified as important for quality collaborations in the drug development process.