Updated Drug Development Scrip Report Responds to the Pharma Industry's Maj...( LONDON October 8 /- Innovation in...)

LONDON, October 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovation in the pharma industry is not at a standstill: it has changed direction. Where once small molecule research provided the mainstay of companies' profits, biological drugs are now making their presence felt. While the range of genomic sciences waits to make its impact, biologicals are providing the current focus for novel discovery. Yet biologicals do not behave like small molecules; the rules for their development are different and they are often little understood.

The 2007 update to the Scrip Report 'How Drugs are Developed' responds to these changes. First published four years ago, and revised in 2005, the Report aims to inform all those involved with pharmaceutical R&D how each of the necessary disciplines fit together to take a new medicine from discovery to market launch.

Sections of the Report that previously focused on small molecules have now been expanded to describe the corresponding processes for biologicals. To increase its value even further, the 2007 update features two brand new chapters. The first deals with project management: the fundamentals of managing multidisciplinary teams and the ways in which the role is changing to encompass external as well as internal interfaces. The second concerns the growing interest in translational research; the ways in which laboratory concepts can be converted into medical advances.

The 234-page update retains all the Report's original sections, giving readers a firm grounding in all the stages of drug development from drug target hunting, lead generation and optimisation through to preclinical research, clinical evaluation and post-marketing surveillance. It also gives a step-by-step account of the various stages of preparing for drug development and the processes involved in making regulatory submissions. The Report also includes over 60 figures all of which serve to aid the reader's understanding of the issues discussed.

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