Panel, Conference Presentation
2014 London Summit - Collaborating to Fund Bioscience
Milken InstituteMargaret Anne Craig, Steve Ford, David Loew, Mark Treherne, John Reed, Margaret Anderson
- Patient organizations in the UK are expected to strategically intervene early to de-risk neurodegeneration investments and recruit pharma talent, aiming to build a critical mass comparable to the Michael J. Fox Fund to support disease-modifying products.
- European and UK investment outlooks are projected to trend positively, with an anticipated exponential evolution of the bioscience sector driven by emerging hubs in Cambridge, Munich, Basel, and Zurich.
- The UK government plans to accelerate research translation to the NHS through clearer investment environments and improved product validation, a drive led by Life Sciences Minister George Freeman.
- Margaret Ann Craig intends to double annual research funding from the current £30 million within the next six months following US business due diligence, though delays in securing this capital pose a risk of missed opportunities.
- John Reed notes that Roche faces a five-to-seven-year timeline for Parkinson's clinical trial readouts and is considering a three to four million pound investment in data aggregation to support pre-competitive collaboration.
- Strategies to reduce clinical trial costs and sample sizes by 30% to 40% are being predicted through the development of models that can better predict disease progression.
- The EUHTA-Net process is expected to centralize reimbursement criteria over several years, becoming vital for biotech companies to understand payer requirements before phase two trials.
- Venture capitalists and banks are forecasted to gain a first-mover advantage through more aggressive investment as systemic issues are resolved, while the sector recognizes the need for long-term tools research with timelines reaching 15 to 40 years for certain diseases.
- Structural gaps in Europe include less prominent philanthropy, a lack of non-profit mentorship for biotech CEOs, and tax structures that may disincentivize entrepreneurship, prompting calls for collaboration with foundations and pharma.
- Global learning is anticipated, such as adopting biomarkers from Japan for late-stage Alzheimer's testing or observing healthcare leapfrogging models in Malawi, to improve drug discovery efficiency and healthcare delivery.
- The pharma industry is described as entirely dependent on university basic research and biotech translation, with future goals focused on leveraging medical philanthropy to access solutions for the entire system.
- Patient groups are expected to take initiative in pushing for tools development and defining patient-centric outcomes, while industry leaders anticipate that creating a culture of project-based movement between startups and large pharma will normalize career transitions.