Medical Innovation Then and Now: Perspectives of Innovators Responsible for Transformative Drugs

The authors surveyed innovators responsible for transformative drugs from the 1980s and 1990s about how the drug development process has changed and what factors drove breakthrough discoveries. The insights from these key historical figures provide an empirical basis for evaluating current proposals to stimulate medical innovation, including whether reducing regulatory approval hurdles or creating new translational research incentives are likely to address the underlying causes of the slowdown in transformative drug development.