Articles By Rob Wright

  1. Finding Disruptive Innovators In Clinical Trials 6/30/2014

    One of the most productive conferences for me in terms of getting innovative ideas, as well as meeting people of a disruptive nature, is The Conference Forum’s Disruptive Innovations To Advance Clinical Trials event.

  2. Drug Development – You Get What You Incentivize For 5/30/2014

    Allowing the application of a “one-size- fits-all” intellectual property policy that affords the same protection for Frisbees as lifesaving and sustaining medicines would be, quite frankly, moronic and short-sighted. It would also be a disincentive for companies to develop R&D-intensive drugs because the longer it takes to develop, the shorter patent life you have. The converse is also true — less costly drugs brought to market more quickly get longer patents.

  3. The Future Of Clinical Trials In An Outsourced Model 3/5/2014

    Throughout human history people have held a fascination with trying to predict the future, employing a variety of tools — crystal balls, palm readings, tarot cards, or my personal favorite, the Magic 8 Ball. Scientists typically use data when forecasting the future.

  4. How To Improve Clinical Trials – Some Good Old-Fashioned Wisdom 3/5/2014

    Intel cofounder Gordon Moore predicted in 1965 that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit would double approximately every two years. What came to be known as Moore’s Law has basically held true ever since.

  5. Lilly's Approach To The Clinical Trial Paradox 2/2/2014

    When I sat down with Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) and Company’s chief medical officer and coleader of the company’s Development Center of Excellence, Timothy Garnett, it was shortly after the drugmaker’s annual investment community meeting where bankers grilled the leadership team with questions.

  6. Mission TransCelerate: Transforming The Drug Development Terrain 1/8/2014

    During the ill-fated 1970 Apollo 13 mission to the moon, it was astronaut Jack Swigert who alerted ground control that something had gone terribly wrong when he uttered the phrase, “Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” Those same words seem very fitting to the current state of affairs around the skyrocketing costs of drug discovery. Recent estimates place the expense of successfully bringing just one drug to market at between $350 million and $1.2 billion. However, in the last decade, companies having brought 4 to 13 drugs to market have watched the price tag reach stratospheric heights — orbiting $5 billion+. “I think the pain point has reached a threshold that’s no longer bearable,” states Dalvir Gill, Ph.D., CEO of TransCelerate BioPharma.

  7. Eli Lilly Research Lab Tour Reveals More Than Meets The Eye 11/1/2013

    Lilly Research laboratories (LRL) opened doors to a select group of media for a rare behind-the-scenes tour of three new innovation labs.

  8. NeoStem's CEO Spearheads Stem Cell Research Collaboration With The Roman Catholic Church 10/31/2013

    Robin Smith, M.D., CEO of NeoStem, strikes up a conversation about stem cell research benefits with one of the largest, wealthiest organizations that are very publicly against embryonic stem cell research – the Roman Catholic Church.

  9. How To Take Charge Of Your Public-Private Partnerships 10/31/2013

    The process of creating a public-private partnership (P3) can be very challenging not only due to the size of the organizations involved (NIH), but the navigation of academic and government-institution policies and procedures for brokering a partnership can be a labyrinth.

  10. From Obscurity To Innovation Engine – The Evolution Of Specialty Pharma 10/31/2013

    By 2018, it is estimated specialty drug spend will surpass traditional drug spend, and in three years market research project 7 of the top 10 bestselling drugs will be specialty drugs. With such as staggering growth how will insurance companies be able to afford to pay for such lifesaving treatments.