Effective Drug Development Metrics Link Operations With Strategy, According to Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - June 10, 2008) - Research-based drug companies looking to streamline the development of new medicinal products should adopt metrics that link their R&D activities with business strategy, according to the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

"To be most useful to senior management, metrics should focus on in-depth analyses of selected performance measures and provide strategic context and implications. And to be accepted throughout the organization, they need to be easily understood," said Tufts CSDD Director Kenneth I Kaitin, citing key points made at a roundtable discussion of drug industry leaders recently convened by Tufts CSDD.

The roundtable highlighted current best practices in drug development metrics, an issue of strong concern to research-based pharmaceutical and biotech companies, since many face growing pressure by investors and other stakeholders to reduce development times and lower R&D costs.

"To set R&D strategy and make other key decisions, senior managers need to understand how internal company targets relate to external benchmarks. The right metrics make this connection," said Kaitin.

The meeting, part of Tufts CSDD's Executive Forum Roundtable Series, was organized to identify ways to extract full value from metrics.

According to those participating in the roundtable, good metrics:

--  Should be easily obtained, quantitatively and qualitatively
    measurable, and historically applicable.
    
--  Identify areas for major improvement, determine the amount of change
    required, provide motivation for change, and provide the basis for
    monitoring and tracking results.
    
--  Help people understand if their probability assessments, cycle times,
    forecasts, and other key projections are overly optimistic or conservative.
    
--  Enable senior managers to see intended and unintended consequences of
    the company's R&D strategy.
    

SCHEDULED R&D MANAGEMENT ROUNDTABLES

Upcoming Tufts CSDD Roundtable meetings in 2008 will focus on the following:

--  Sept. 11 - Optimizing Protocol Design -- Strategies to Improve
    Clinical Research Performance
--  Nov. 6 - Assessing Change and Opportunity in the Phase I Landscape
    

To register, call 617-636-2170.

ABOUT THE TUFTS CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF DRUG DEVELOPMENT

The Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (http://csdd.tufts.edu) at Tufts University provides strategic information to help drug developers, regulators, and policy makers improve the quality and efficiency of pharmaceutical development, review, and utilization. A core element of the center's educational efforts, the Tufts CSDD Institute for Professional Development, produces the Executive Forum Roundtable Series, along with postgraduate level courses, training workshops, symposia, and public forums.

Contact Information: Contact: Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development Charlene Neu 617-636-2187 Business Communication Strategies Peter Lowy 617-734-9980