The importance of drug target selection capability for new drug innovation: definition, fostering process, and interaction with organizational management

Okuyama, Ryo; Tsujimoto, Masaharu

doi:10.13169/prometheus.36.2.0135

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Prometheus

Volume 36, Issue 2

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The importance of drug target selection capability for new drug innovation: definition, fostering process, and interaction with organizational management

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Author(s): Ryo Okuyama , Masaharu Tsujimoto

Publication date (Print): 1 June 2020

Journal: Prometheus

Publisher: Pluto Journals

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Abstract

The productivity of new drug discovery has not changed for decades, although the information on physiological functions and molecules, which are the sources for new drug discovery, has markedly increased. Furthermore, technologies for lead compound acquisition and compound optimization for creating drug candidates have greatly progressed. One possible reason for this low productivity is that it is still difficult for drug discovery researchers to correctly evaluate and select physiological mechanisms that could be drug targets. Nevertheless, there are very few studies on drug target selection capability, specifically on researchers' capability to determine whether modulating the function of a newly discovered physiological mechanism would be a suitable therapeutic option for a certain disease. How is this capability developed? In this study, we propose that the long-term experience of researchers in investigating disease causes and existing drug action mechanisms contributes to enhancing their insights into druggable physiological mechanisms, based on the comparative analysis of cases that were focused on the same physiological mechanism, where one was successfully developed as an innovative new drug while the other failed. We also discuss managerial practices to strengthen capability.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Ryo Okuyama

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.2307/j50022063

Journal ID (jcode): prometheus

Title: Prometheus

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN: 0810-9028

ISSN: 1470-1030

Publication date (Print): 1 June 2020

Volume: 36

Issue: 2 ( doiID: 10.13169/prometheus.36.issue-2 )

Pages: 135-152

Affiliations

Department of Innovation Science, School of Environment and Society, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 108-0023, Japan

Article

Publisher ID: prometheus.36.2.0135

DOI: 10.13169/prometheus.36.2.0135

SO-VID: 7a8f6f20-07ce-47f8-875c-60149fc19d58

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lang eng

ScienceOpen disciplines: Computer science,Arts,Social & Behavioral Sciences,Law,History,Economics

References

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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Apriliyanti, I. and Alon, I. (2017) ‘Bibliometric analysis of absorptive capacity’, International Business Review, 26, pp.896–907.

[2] Baba, Y., Shichijo, N. and Sedita, S. (2009) ‘How do collaborations with universities affect firms’ innovative performance? The role of “Pasteur scientists” in the advanced materials field', Research Policy, 38, 5, pp.756–64.

[3] Bioscience Innovation and Growth Team (2004) Bioscience 2015 Entire Executive Summary, available from www.bioindustry.org/bigtreport/index2.html (accessed November 2011).

[4] Cockburn, I. and Henderson, R. (1996) ‘Public-private interaction in pharmaceutical research’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 93, 239, pp.12725–30.

[5] Cockburn, I. and Henderson, R. (1998) ‘Absorptive capacity, coauthoring behavior, and the organization of research in drug discovery’, Journal of Industrial Economics, 46, 2, pp.157–82.

[6] Cohen, W. and Levinthal, D. (1990) ‘Absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation’, Administrative Sciences Quarterly, 35, pp.569–96.

[7] Comroe, J. and Dripps, R. (1976) ‘Scientific basis for the support of biomedical science’, Science, 192, 4235, pp.105–11.

[8] Cook, D., Brown D., Alexander, R. et al. (2014) ‘Lessons learned from the fate of AstraZeneca's drug pipeline: a five-dimensional framework’ Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 13, pp.419–31.

[9] DiMasi, J., Feldman, L., Seckler, A. and Wilson, A. (2010) ‘Trends in risks associated with new drug development: success rates for investigational drugs’, Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 87, pp.272–7.

[10] Dimitrov, D. and Marks, J. (2009) ‘Therapeutic antibodies: current state and future trends – is a paradigm change coming soon?‘, Methods in Molecular Biology, 525, pp. 1–27.

[11] Edmondson, A. and McManus, S. (2007) ‘Methodological fit in management field research’, Academy of Management Review, 32, 4, pp.1246–64.

[12] Eisenhardt, K. and Graebner, M. (2007) ‘Theory building from cases: opportunities and challenges’, Academy of Management Journal, 50, 1, pp.25–32.

[13] Erlanson, D., Fesik, S., Hubbard, R. et al. (2016) ‘Twenty years on: the impact of fragments on drug discovery’, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 15, 9, pp.605–19.

[14] Fabrizio, K. (2009) ‘Absorptive capacity and the search for innovation’, Research Policy, 38, 2, pp.255–67.

[15] Fabrizio, K. and Di Minin, A. (2008) ‘Commercializing the laboratory: faculty patenting and the open science environment’, Research Policy, 37, 5, pp.914–31.

[16] Folkersen, L., Biswas, S., Frederiksen, K. et al. (2015) ‘Applying genetics in inflammatory disease drug discovery’, Drug Discovery Today, 20, 10, pp.1176–81.

[17] Furukawa, R. and Goto, A. (2006) ‘The role of corporate scientists in innovation’, Research Policy, 35, 1, pp.24–36.

[18] Galizzi, J., Lockhart, B. and Bril, A. (2013) ‘Applying systems biology in drug discovery and development’, Drug Metabolism and Drug Interactions, 28, 2, pp.67–78.

[19] Gittelman, M. (2016) ‘The revolution re-visited: clinical and genetics research paradigms and the productivity paradox in drug discovery’, Research Policy, 45, 8, pp.1570–85.

[20] Gittelman, M. and Kogut, B. (2003) ‘Does good science lead to valuable knowledge? Biotechnology firms and the evolutionary logic of citation patterns’, Management Science, 49, 4, pp.366–82.

[21] Hertzberg, R. and Pope, A. (2000) ‘High-throughput screening: new technology for the 21st century’, Current Opinion in Chemical Biology, 4, 4, pp.445–51.

[22] Hess, A. and Rothaermel, F. (2011) ‘When are assets complementary? Star scientists, strategic alliances, and innovation in the pharmaceutical industry’, Strategic Management Journal, 32, 8, pp.895–909.

[23] Hirano, T., Yasukawa, K., Harada, H. et al. (1986) ‘Complementary DNA for a novel human interleukin (BSF-2) that induces B lymphocytes to produce immunoglobulin’, Nature, 324, 6092, pp.73–6.

[24] Holmes, A., Bonner, F. and Jones, D. (2015) ‘Assessing drug safety in human tissues – what are the barriers?‘, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 14, pp.585–7.

[25] Japanese Society of Interferon and Cytokine Research (2010) Cytokine Hunting, Kyoto University Press, Kyoto (in Japanese).

[26] Kirchmair, J., Göller, A., Lang, D. et al. (2015) ‘Predicting drug metabolism: experiment and/or computation?‘, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 14, pp.387–404.

[27] Kishimoto, T. (2005) ‘Interleukin-6: from basic science to medicine – 40 years in immunology’, Annual Review of Immunology, 23, pp.1–21.

[28] Kishimoto, T. and Nakashima, A. (2007) Present Immunology Stories, Kodansha Publishing, Tokyo (in Japanese).

[29] Kishimoto, T. and Nakashima, A. (2009) Miracle of Antibody Medicine and Innate Immunity, Kodansha Publishing, Tokyo (in Japanese).

[30] Kuwashima, K. (2006) Management of Uncertainty, Nikkei BP Publishing, Tokyo (in Japanese).

[31] Morgan, P., Brown, D., Lennard, S. et al. (2018) ‘Impact of a five-dimensional framework on R&D productivity at AstraZeneca’, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 17, pp.167–81.

[32] Munos, B. (2009) ‘Lessons from 60 years of pharmaceutical innovation’, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 8, pp.959–68.

[33] Munos, B. (2016) ‘Biomedical innovation: lessons from the past and perspectives for the future’, Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 100, 6, pp.588–90.

[34] Nadeau, J. and Dudley, A. (2011) ‘Systems genetics’, Science, 331, pp.1015–16.

[35] Nagano, K. and Higashisaka, K. (2016) ‘Promotion of drug discovery research by utilizing omics technology’, Yakugaku Zasshi, 136, 2, pp.143–4.

[36] Nagaoka, S. (2016) New Drug Discovery and Development, Nikkei BP Publishing, Tokyo (in Japanese).

[37] Nishimoto, N. (2006) ‘Interleukin-6 in rheumatoid arthritis’, Current Opinion of Rheumatology, 18, 3, pp.277–81.

[38] Ohsugi, Y. (2007) ‘Recent advances in immunopathophysiology of interleukin-6: an innovative therapeutic drug, tocilizumab (recombinant humanized anti-human interleukin-6 receptor antibody) unveils the mysterious etiology of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases’, Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 30, 11, pp.2001–6.

[39] Ohsugi, Y. (2013) Birth of New Drug Actemra, Iwanami Shoten Publishing, Tokyo (in Japanese).

[40] Okuyama, R. (2017) ‘Importance of tacit knowledge in incremental innovation: implications from drug discovery cases’, Journal of Strategy and Management, 10, 1, pp.118–30.

[41] Plymoth, A. and Hainaut, P. (2011) ‘Proteomics beyond proteomics: toward clinical applications’, Current Opinion in Oncology, 23, 1, pp.77–82.

[42] Powell, W., Koput, K. and Smith-Doerr, L. (1996) ‘Interorganizational collaboration and the locus of innovation: networks of learning in biotechnology’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 41, 1, pp.116–45.

[43] Rosenberg, N. and Nelson, R. (1994) ‘American universities and technological advance in industry’, Research Policy, 23, 3, pp.323–48.

[44] Savino, R., Paduano, S., Preianò, M. and Terracciano, R. (2012) ‘The proteomics big challenge for biomarkers and new drug-targets discovery’, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 13, 11, pp.13926–48.

[45] Scannell, J. Blanckley, A., Boldon, H. and Warrington, B. (2012) ‘Diagnosing the decline in pharmaceutical R&D efficiency’, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 11, pp.191–200.

[46] Smietana, K., Siatkowski, M. and Moller, M. (2016) ‘Trends in clinical success rates’, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 15, pp.379–80.

[47] Stokes, D. (1997) Pasteur's Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC.

[48] Stranger, B., Stahl, E. and Raj, T. (2011) ‘Progress and promise of genome-wide association studies for human complex trait genetics’, Genetics, 187, pp.367–83.

[49] Swinney, D. and Anthony, J. (2011) ‘How were new medicines discovered?‘, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 10, pp.507–19.

[50] Tralau-Stewart, C., Wyatt, C., Kleyn, D. and Ayad, A. (2009) ‘Drug discovery: new models for industry–academic partnerships’, Drug Discovery Today, 14, 1/2, pp.95–101.

[51] Toole, A. (2012) ‘The impact of public basic research on industrial innovation: evidence from the pharmaceutical industry’, Research Policy, 41, 1, pp.1–12.

[52] Varmus, H. (2010) ‘Ten years on – the human genome and medicine’, New England Journal of Medicine, 362, 21, pp.2028–9.

[53] Van der Sijde, M., Ng, A. and Fu, J. (2014) ‘Systems genetics: from GWAS to disease pathways’, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1842, 10, pp.1903–9.

[54] Yan, S., Liu, R., Jin, H. et al. (2015) ‘“Omics” in pharmaceutical research: overview, applications, challenges, and future perspectives’, Chinese Journal of Natural Medicines, 13, 1, pp.3–21.

[55] Zahra, S. and George, G. (2002) ‘Absorptive capacity: a review, reconceptualization, and extension’, Academy of Management Review, 27, 2, pp.185–203.

[56] Zucker. L., Darby, M. and Armstrong, J. (2002) ‘Commercializing knowledge: university science, knowledge capture, and firm performance in biotechnology’, Management Science, 48, 1, pp.138–53.