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department feels there is no market. For a company to operate efficiently, there must be a consensus and commitment to corporate goals, and the resources and facilities supporting the goals must be homogeneous across the organization to support both product development and commercialization [15,26]. |
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The nature of research runs contrary to the usual notion of efficiency. The work is long term and unpredictable, since scientific discoveries do not follow a smooth, stepwise path. There are fits and starts as new insight is applied to a research problem, and often a quantum leap or the convergence of individually unimportant and seemingly unrelated facts leads to a breakthrough [13]. One cannot plan for this, but one does not have to be wasteful either. Drug discovery efforts can be focused to stay in line with the general corporate objectives while still maintaining an atmosphere that encourages creative intellectual pursuits. A useful management tool is a periodic assessment of research to review progress. Too frequent scrutiny is detrimental because it does not allow the freedom to take risks and explore potentially fruitful, if unorthodox, approaches. However, a formal review at reasonable intervals actually is beneficial because it forces scientists to review, organize, and rationalize their research direction, take stock of their progress, and solicit other scientific input. Research should move forward, not sideways, not backwards, and not stand still. If progress is not made, tough decisions need to be made to either focus the work, redirect it toward more profitable lines, or stop. Nothing drains the research budget more than projects that are stagnate and stale. |
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5. Development Productivity |
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Development projects are easier to run efficiently. At the beginning of the development project, there should be a detailed analysis, questioning all assumptions and background information leading to the decision to develop the substance [27]. The project risks, alternatives, and contingency plans should all be considered both from a technical and financial perspective. After the overall plan is formulated, there should be a detailed annual planning cycle to review and if necessary to revise the long term plan, in view of market changes, new competition, and changing regulatory requirements [27]. Formal review of development projects should be more frequent than research projects and should coincide with the availability of new project information [13]. The purpose of these reviews should be to check on the progress toward the current milestone and to mandate reasonable target dates for future milestones. The goal of development is to move the product through the pipeline as quickly as possible. Allocating additional financial and human resources can speed up development, but there is always the temptation to dilute the effort: attractive |
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