The Challenges of Precision Oncology Drug Development and Implementation

The drivers of precision medicine are clear: for patients (and physicians)--more options, durable clinical benefit, reduced exposure to non-effective drugs and potential to leverage current scientific and technological advances; for the pharmaceutical industry--the potential to tackle core challenges in discovering and developing better and more efficacious medicines, to reduce rates of attrition in drug development and to reduce development costs; for healthcare systems and payers--improved efficiency through the provision of effective care and avoiding ineffective treatments. Oncology has been at the vanguard, the improvements gained in patient survival notable. However, the increasing number of molecular subgroups requires an equally increasing number (and new generation) of highly selective agents targeting inevitably lower incidence molecular segments. Innovative trial designs (umbrella/basket studies) are emerging as a patient-centric approach to drug development, and the rise in public-private partnerships, cross-industry, government and non-profit sector collaborations is enabling implementation of complex clinical trial designs. This poses significant challenges for healthcare systems and regulatory approval. Further substantial evolution of policy and processes, particularly regulatory requirements for approval for new therapeutics, are required.