Open source drug collaborations: a rational design approach

A decade ago, many biologists and legal scholars thought that open source (OS) methods would revolutionize drug discovery. These predictions were clearly disappointed. Not surprisingly, some scholars now take the opposite view that OS methods and drug discovery are inherently incompatible. This article argues for balance. Economists have observed that OS methods offer both advantages and disadvantages compared with conventional institutions. This article reviews what economists have learned regarding the strengths and weaknesses of OS methods and identifies specific drug-discovery tasks where OS methods are likely to work especially well. Successful OS collaborations should carefully focus on segments of the drug-discovery pipeline where the advantages of OS methods are particularly relevant and existing commercial methods are known to work badly. The article concludes by offering detailed suggestions for how existing OS software models can be modified and extended to conduct effective drug discovery.