Lecture 9 - Biocurate

Question 1

What is the Valley of Death?

Answer 1

Absence of funding after drug discovery and Phase III clinical trials

Question 2

Why are big pharma or VC unable to fill the gap?

Answer 2

Success rate for converting basic science into useful therapies is low, creating a deterrent to investment
Costs and timeframes are uncertain, potentially compromising the VCs capacity to achieve a profitable exit in a predefined timeframe
Projects have no commercial value until the drug demonstrates a PoC in an animal model, only then will VCs invest in the project

Question 3

What are the requirements for Early Phase Drug Discovery?

Answer 3

1. Select promising compounds and identify potentially safe and effective doses and dosing regimens
2. Biomarkers
3. PK/ PD relationship (dose-concentration/ concentration-effect)
4. Drug exposure
5. Dose-response
6. Cmax vs AUC