Conference: Accelerating Drug Product Development and Approval: A Critical Need in Response to National Emergencies

药物的发现、开发和监管评估过程，从一个分子被确定为潜在的治疗剂到它被批准作为一种药物产品商业化，可能需要长达15年的时间。这一漫长的过程涉及许多阶段，包括确定疗效、安全性、毒性和治疗方案，确定目标人群，副作用和相互作用，选择可行的合成途径，以及开发产品配方和可靠的制造工艺。这种漫长的时间框架使其难以应对需要新疗法的紧急情况，剥夺了患者更快地获得救命药物的机会，缩短了制药公司的盈利期，并导致新药成本居高不下。此外，新冠肺炎大流行清楚地表明，需要加快药物开发和监管评估过程。为了解决这些问题，建议举办一次研讨会，将来自学术界、行业和监管机构的一群有重点的思想领袖聚集在一起，讨论基于医学、生物学、材料科学、生物统计学和先进制造技术的最新科技进步，加快药物发现、开发和监管评估所需的关键要素。加速机制将从多个角度进行审查，包括基础科学的力量、技术可行性和监管可接受性。在相关学科专家的参与下，系统的集思广益和分析将有助于取得重大成果，包括制定实施研讨会成果的战略计划。项目领导团队建议组织和举办一次结构化研讨会，将来自学术界、行业和监管机构的思想领袖集中在一起，讨论基于医学、生物学、材料科学、生物统计学和先进制造技术的最新科技进步，加快药物发现、开发和监管评估所需的关键要素。这些讨论将由在各自领域有既定记录的预先选定的小组成员领导。加速机制将从多个角度进行审查，包括基础科学的力量、技术可行性和监管可接受性。有相关学科的专家参与的系统集思广益和分析将产生重大成果，这是任何现有的科学交流论坛或会议都无法实现的。将选择被认为可能有效的加速机制，由一个由讲习班参与者组成的重点多学科小组进行进一步分析，该小组的任务是将这些机制纳入战略计划和执行路径。这些文件将是研讨会的主要成果，将成为联邦政府、工业界和学术界指导这一领域努力的蓝图。研讨会将于2023年1月24日至26日在华盛顿特区举行，将有来自工业界、学术界和政府组织(如NSF、NIH、NIST和FDA)的领导人参加。拟议的研讨会将实现两个目标：1)确定能够显著缩短药物发现、开发和商业化的时间框架、提高效率并降低患者风险的科学、技术和监管机制；2)将这些机制整合到一个连贯的战略和综合实施计划中。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The drug discovery, development, and regulatory evaluation process, from the point where a molecule is identified as a potential therapeutic agent to when it is approved for commercialization as a drug product, can take up to 15 years. This lengthy process involves many stages, including the determination of efficacy, safety, toxicity, and therapeutic regime, identification of target populations, side effects, and interactions, selection of a feasible synthetic pathway, and development of a product formulation and a reliable manufacturing process. This lengthy time frame makes it hard to respond to emergencies requiring new therapies, deprives patients of faster access to life-saving medicines, decreases the profitability period of pharmaceutical companies, and contributes to the high cost of new medicines. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has made clear the need for faster drug development and regulatory evaluation process. To address these issues, a workshop is proposed to bring together a focused group of thought leaders from academia, industry, and regulatory agencies to discuss the critical elements needed to accelerate drug discovery, development, and regulatory evaluation based on recent scientific and technical advances in medicine, biology, materials science, biostatistics, and advanced manufacturing technologies. Acceleration mechanisms will be examined from multiple perspectives, including the strength of the underlying science, technical feasibility, and regulatory acceptability. The systemic brainstorming and analysis with the participation of experts across the relevant disciplines will enable significant outcomes, including the production of a strategic plan to implement the workshop findings.The project leadership team propose to organize and conduct a structured workshop that will bring together a focused group of thought leaders from academia, industry, and regulatory agencies, to discuss the critical elements needed to accelerate drug discovery, development, and regulatory evaluation based on recent scientific and technical advances in medicine, biology, materials science, biostatistics, and advanced manufacturing technologies. These discussions will be led by pre-selected panelists with established track records in their respective fields. Acceleration mechanisms will be examined from multiple perspectives, including the strength of the underlying science, technical feasibility, and regulatory acceptability. The systemic brainstorming and analysis with the participation of experts across the relevant disciplines will generate significant outcomes, which would not be achieved in any existing scientific communication forum or conferences. Acceleration mechanisms deemed to be potentially effective will be selected for further analysis by a focused multidisciplinary team of workshop participants, which will be tasked to integrate these mechanisms into a strategic plan and an implementation pathway. These documents, which will be the main output of the workshop, will serve as a blueprint for the Federal Government, industry, and academia to direct efforts in this field. The workshop will be held in the Washington, DC area 24-26 January 2023 and will be attended by leaders from industry, academia, and government organizations such as NSF, NIH, NIST, and FDA. The proposed workshop will achieve two goals, to: 1) identify Scientific, Technological, and Regulatory mechanisms capable of significantly reducing the drug discovery, development, and commercializing time frame with improved efficiency and reduced risks to patients; and 2) integrate these mechanisms into a coherent strategy and integrated implementation plan.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.