Members of Big Pharma Collaborate to Define Best Practices

Ten biopharmaceutical companies announced the formation of a nonprofit organization called TransCelerate BioPharma, the mission of which is to accelerate the development of new medicines by identifying and solving common drug development challenges. The ten founding companies include Abbott, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Company, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Genentech a member of the Roche Group, and Sanofi.

The ten founding companies will pool resources and personnel to solve industry-wide problems. Initially, TransCelerate will focus on best practices for clinical trial execution. Five projects have been selected for funding and development, including: development of a shared user interface for investigator site portals, mutual recognition of study site qualification and training, development of risk-based site monitoring approach and standards, development of clinical data standards, and establishment of a comparator drug supply model.

A senior R&D member from each of the founding companies will sit on TransCelerate’s board, but membership is open to any biopharmaceutical company that can contribute to and benefit from the solutions being pursued by the company.

In years past, drug development was a secretive process. However, the rising cost and diminished success rate of bringing new drugs to market has forced the realization that going it alone is not always the most effective or efficient way of developing drugs. This realization has resulted in greater willingness of pharmaceutical companies to collaborate-with academics, with government agencies, and now, with each other.