Drug development in the light of translational science: shine or shade?

Approximately a decade ago, translational medicine was invented both as a catchword and as a novel approach to improve success in drug development and ameliorate the low-output syndrome from collapsing pipelines. However, no major breakthroughs regarding rates of expensive late attrition or market approvals have been detected, and drug industry condensation continues to accelerate. Here, I discuss what went wrong: namely the fact that the concept does not exist apart from general claims and attributes, and no robust structures, such as toolboxes, algorithms, reproducible standards and procedures, and assessment tools have been developed and/or implemented. Translational medicine might be a clue to the survival of biomedical research, but it needs to be filled with scientific and operational substance.