Translational research in the pharmaceutical industry: from bench to bedside

Current developments in basic discovery sciences have not been mirrored by the same level of progress in understanding the clinical basis of disease and ultimately the development of novel effective therapies. This can be improved by applying translational research throughout the late-stage discovery and exploratory development stages of drug development. A bi-directional dialogue between research scientists and clinicians concerning the biology of mechanism of action and clinical basis for disease will deliver biomarkers that enable drug development decisions to be made earlier and with increased confidence. Thus, we can better exploit the many targets that have been discovered through the mapping of the genome and other breakthroughs in medical sciences, such as the polyomic technologies.