title: Helping science to succeed: improving processes in R&D.
abstract: Bringing drugs to the market remains a costly and, until now, often unpredictable challenge. Although understanding the underlying science is key to further progress, our imperfect knowledge of disease and complex biological systems leaves excellence in execution as the most tangible lever to sustain our serendipitous approach to drug discovery. The problems encountered in pharmaceutical R&D are not unique, but to learn from other industries it is important to recognise similarity, rather than differences, and to advance industrialisation of R&D beyond technology and automation. Tools like Lean and Six Sigma, already applied to increase business excellence across diverse organisations, can equally be introduced to pharmaceutical R&D and offer the potential to transform operations without large-scale investment.
authors.affiliation: Exploratory Medicinal Science, Pfizer Global Research and Development, IPC 654, United Kingdom. Andreas.Sewing@sandwich.pfizer.com
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sewing
authors.forename: Toby
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Winchester
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carnell
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hampton
authors.forename: Wilma
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Keighley
mesh_terms: D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D015195:Drug Design; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D012106:Research / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013678:Technology, Pharmaceutical / Q000458:organization & administration; D017749:Total Quality Management