Europital’s Scientific Advisory Board Predicts Clinical Deficit May Slow Biotech Advancement

The recently formed scientific advisory board (SAB) of contract research organization, Europital, anticipates that a deficit in the clinical knowledge of smaller biotechs may lead to slow biotech development in 2021.

According to a Feb. 8, 2021 press release, the SAB, which comprises a group of clinical key-opinion leaders and specialized industry experts, forewarns of a slowing of trials in 2021 due to the clinical knowledge deficit. Additionally, the board believes that investment communities will start to take a holistic look at biotechs and partners to ensure there is deep therapeutic expertise available.

“The drug discovery pipeline is increasingly made up of smaller and more nimble innovators with limited clinical experience in-house. Yet, with many of the low hanging fruit already having been developed, molecules and biologies are becoming ever more complex,” said Dr. Mohamed El Malt, chief medical officer of Europital, in the press release. “The challenge for small and medium pharma and biotechs is how to access appropriate high-quality clinical knowledge—and this clinical deficit over the next few years is set to be a critical factor in any candidates advancement.

“It’s no secret that unlike the larger pharma companies that can pull in the best resources from the largest CROs, smaller companies must increasingly compete to ensure they can access the best clinical knowledge, as this can be the difference between delays due poor trial management and planning, and even, a project’s potential success or failure,” added El Malt.

Source: Europital