Zhang Nan, Guo Huaqing, Zhang Mengchao, Wang Chen, Tian Ruonan, Shi Yan, Duan Zhiguang
Department of Health Administration, School of Management, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China.
Department of Humanistic Medicine, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China.
Front Pharmacol. 2025 May 30;16:1516882. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1516882. eCollection 2025.
The advancements in biotechnology have ushered in a new age for drug development, characterized by increased collaborative efforts. Academic institutions, pharmaceutical firms, hospitals, foundations, and various other entities across different sectors are now joining forces more frequently to accelerate new drug innovation. However, there remains a limited understanding of how scientific and technological advancements are influencing these research collaborations.
In this study, the development of two types of lipid-lowering drugs served as case studies. A detailed network analysis was performed at the levels of authors, institutions, and countries to quantify the evolutionary trends in research collaboration.
In the clinical research segment of the academic chain, papers resulting from collaborations tend to receive a higher citation count compared to other areas. However, there were notably fewer collaborative connections between authors transitioning from basic to developmental research and beyond. Collaboration models involving universities with enterprises, hospitals, or both are becoming more prevalent in biologics R&D. These models demonstrate effects of similarity and proximity. Additionally, there has been an increase in the involvement of developing countries in the research and development of new biologic drugs on a national and regional scale.
New drug R&D research collaboration patterns evolve spontaneously with productivity updates. In the future, it is necessary to enhance the involvement of pharmaceutical companies in the basic research phase of new drug development, continuously strengthen the relationships across all segments of the academic chain, and thoroughly boost the efficiency of transforming new drug R&D into practical applications.
生物技术的进步开启了药物研发的新时代，其特点是合作力度加大。学术机构、制药公司、医院、基金会以及不同领域的其他各种实体现在更频繁地联手加速新药创新。然而，对于科技进步如何影响这些研究合作，人们的了解仍然有限。
在本研究中，以两种降脂药物的研发作为案例研究。在作者、机构和国家层面进行了详细的网络分析，以量化研究合作的演变趋势。
在学术链中的临床研究环节，合作产生的论文相比其他领域往往获得更高的引用次数。然而，从基础研究过渡到开发研究及后续阶段的作者之间的合作联系明显较少。涉及大学与企业、医院或两者的合作模式在生物制剂研发中变得越来越普遍。这些模式显示出相似性和接近性的影响。此外，发展中国家在国家和区域层面参与新生物药物研发的情况有所增加。
新药研发研究合作模式随着生产力更新而自发演变。未来，有必要加强制药公司在新药研发基础研究阶段的参与度，持续加强学术链各环节之间的关系，并全面提高新药研发转化为实际应用地效率。
