The academic-industrial complex: navigating the translational and cultural divide

In general, the fruits of academic discoveries can only be realized through joint efforts with industry. However, the poor reproducibility of much academic research has damaged credibility and jeopardized translational efforts that could benefit patients. Meanwhile, journals are rife with articles bemoaning the limited productivity and increasing costs of the biopharmaceutical industry and its resultant predilection for mergers and reorganizations while decreasing internal research efforts. The ensuing disarray and uncertainty has created tremendous opportunities for academia and industry to form even closer ties, and to embrace new operational and financial models to their joint benefit. This review article offers a personal perspective on the opportunities, models and approaches that harness the increased interface and growing interdependency between biomedical research institutes, the biopharmaceutical industry and the technological world.