Eroom's law
en.wikipedia.org
Eroom's law
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Re: Eroom's law
#2„The cost of developing a new drug roughly doubles every nine years.[1]“
Re: Eroom's law
#3Very interesting.
Anyone know if this applies to antibiotics? I think a lot of people, myself included, are hoping that new drugs will buy us enough time to solve the sociatal problems (e.g. heavy use in ag) causing antibiotic resistance.
Re: Eroom's law
#4Very interesting. Anyone know if this applies to antibiotics? I think a lot of people, myself included, are hoping that new drugs will buy us enough time to solve the sociatal problems (e.g. heavy use in ag) causing antibiotic resistance.
Yes, it does. More or less every class of antibiotic was invented between 1940 and 1960. Discoveries since that period have been mostly incremental.
Re: Eroom's law
#5I’ve heard a theory that says the era of small molecules targeting single complexes is probably on the sharply downward slope of an asymptote. If we’re lucky that will just mean new therapies which target complex systems rather than single-drug-targets is in sight. If we’re unlucky there will be a harsh gap between the two eras.
Re: Eroom's law
#6I’ve heard a theory that says the era of small molecules targeting single complexes is probably on the sharply downward slope of an asymptote. If we’re lucky that will just mean new therapies which target complex systems rather than single-drug-targets is in sight. If we’re unlucky there will be a harsh gap between the two eras.
Well, I think it's true that traditionally folks trying to do rational drug discovery are better at targeting certain proteins (cell surface receptors; some enzymes) with small molecules than others. Also true that first generation of most drugs were discovered serendipitously and only later was mechanism understood. BUT - notion that we're at the sharp downward slope would be a surprise to most pharmas and biotechs. While there's more of an emphasis on understanding entire pathways rather than single proteins, it's still generally the goal to find a single place in the pathway where a small molecule (or antibody, or whatever) will act. It's also /really/ hard to disrupt protein-protein interactions, though it's possible.
Re: Eroom's law
#7I’ve heard a theory that says the era of small molecules targeting single complexes is probably on the sharply downward slope of an asymptote. If we’re lucky that will just mean new therapies which target complex systems rather than single-drug-targets is in sight. If we’re unlucky there will be a harsh gap between the two eras.
Well, I think it's true that traditionally folks trying to do rational drug discovery are better at targeting certain proteins (cell surface receptors; some enzymes) with small molecules than others. Also true that first generation of most drugs were discovered serendipitously and only later was mechanism understood. BUT - notion that we're at the sharp downward slope would be a surprise to most pharmas and biotechs.…
And forgot to mention that there's all sorts of very cool new tools coming - one of my favorites is this one for targeted protein degradation:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28223226
Re: Eroom's law
#8This was a superb Wikipedia article and clever name. I particularly like the Beatle's reference.
Re: Eroom's law
#9Very interesting. Anyone know if this applies to antibiotics? I think a lot of people, myself included, are hoping that new drugs will buy us enough time to solve the sociatal problems (e.g. heavy use in ag) causing antibiotic resistance.
Yes, and in addition, I believe antibiotics are currently considered by pharma companies insufficiently profitable to dedicate significant resources to. They're mainly going after chronic conditions now, since chronic means steady income stream.
Re: Eroom's law
#10Very interesting. Anyone know if this applies to antibiotics? I think a lot of people, myself included, are hoping that new drugs will buy us enough time to solve the sociatal problems (e.g. heavy use in ag) causing antibiotic resistance.
Yes, it does. More or less every class of antibiotic was invented between 1940 and 1960. Discoveries since that period have been mostly incremental.
The only exception I am aware of is this recent discovery :
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14098
Note that the paper isn't only about a new antibiotic but also about a promising method for making additional discoveries via uncultured bacteria.