News Feature

With recent successes of immunotherapies and targeted drugs, melanoma has become one of the most dynamic areas of anticancer drug development.

The catastrophic failure of Pfizer's torcetrapib looked like it might doom an entire class of cholesterol modulators, but next month Merck will move its anacetrapib into one of the largest cardiovascular trials ever. Asher Mullard investigates how drug developers have reignited hope for the CETP inhibitors.

A recent report provides a rare example of a potential new class of antibiotics. Dan Jones investigates the difficulties of finding such drugs.

Bethan Hughes investigates how the Chinese government's efforts to boost innovation have resulted in drug discovery research collaborations between Chinese academic institutions and multinational pharmaceutical companies.

Metabolism in cancer cells differs from that in normal cells, but it is only recently that opportunities to specifically target these differences to develop novel anticancer drugs are being revealed. Jim Schnabel investigates new collaborations to harness this potential.

Establishing a common language for the stakeholders in stratified medicine — including drug developers, diagnostic companies, regulators and payers — could help tackle the complex challenges posed by biomarker-based drug development.

Could coupling the recent explosion in large-scale biological data to novel models for pre-competitive collaboration help tackle the challenges of innovative drug development? Bethan Hughes investigates.

The US FDA can now require companies to develop a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) for therapeutic products. Bethan Hughes investigates the recent evolution of risk-management strategies in drug development.

The pilot programme Molecular Libraries Initiative, part of the NIH Roadmap, gave academic researchers access to high-throughput screening technology and expertise. Now, as this initiative enters its next phase, a key question is how to make the most of the data generated. David Bradley investigates.

Establishing networks that tackle issues ranging from drug development bottlenecks to manufacturing standards has become a key part of Europe's strategy to improve its global competitiveness. Bethan Hughes investigates progress so far.

As a variety of novel cell- or gene-based therapies move closer to the clinic, or to market approval in a few cases, Bethan Hughes explores the rapidly evolving regulatory environment for such products.

What are the challenges of conducting statistically valid, as well as clinically meaningful meta-analyses? Dan Jones investigates.

How might systems biology approaches be applied in drug discovery and development? Dan Jones investigates.

Legislation to stimulate the development of drugs for rare diseases first came into force in the US 25 years ago. Bethan Hughes investigates the incentives and the remaining challenges for orphan drug development.

This year has seen the announcement of a flurry of initiatives intended to encourage innovative biomedical research and development. Bethan Hughes investigates the culture of innovation.