The last decade of Pharmaceutical Discovery has seen both the steady dwindling of new opportunities and at the same time the birth and explosive growth of what promises to be an era of unprecedented opportunity and scientific discovery. This has manifested itself in the plethora of biotech and IT start-up companies that now populate the industry. This explosion of knowledge and capabilities opens both opportunities for some, but a threat for others. Top scientists are increasingly lured to attractive startup companies with both greater freedom and stronger financial incentives. Knowledge is fragmenting, deepening and evolving creating scarcity of expertise, uncertainty of outcomes and greater difficulty in grasping the big picture of tomorrow.
Companies face innumerable challenges.
The need is to be able to make informed choices and align the organization around the choices to maximize their potential. This requires management of Discovery to create networks of scientific excellence, and at the same time to move the own mindset from doing science to managing science. The growth of biotech companies suggests individuals can and have made the transition, the challenge will be for organizations to do so.