What Time Is It? Coordinating Pacing Mechanisms in Drug Discovery.

Enhancing R&D in science-based industry: An optimal stopping model for drug discovery

“…This is fundamentally different from R&D in most engineering-based industries such as automotive design, semiconductors, computers, and aircraft in which products can only reach a level of complexity comparable to pharmaceuticals on some measures [23]. Furthermore, because so little is known about how the human body works, the causes of drug failure are just as uncertain: The molecule or target may be wrong, the dosage may be incorrect, the intended target may not have been hit, other targets may have been hit, and so on [24]. As a result, it is impossible for drug researchers to develop a so-called 'perfect' drug whose function in human body can be understood with 100% certainty.…”

“…[22]. By doing so, scientists do not treat different quality criteria independently; rather, they talk about the all-in-one paradigm, trying to synthesize their tests and assays among different disciplines all at once as early as possible [22,24]. This work style guarantees that an adequate metric could be developed to holistically measure the quality of the lead compound.…”

“…Although the minimum quality threshold is rather objective and mandatory, the ambiguity and complexity of knowledge leaves the maximum quality level of a new compound subject to interpretation [24]. Drug researchers use their latest scientific knowledge to understand and negotiate results generated in each round.…”