Clinical development success rates for investigational drugs

Abstract

The most comprehensive survey of clinical success rates across the drug industry to date shows productivity may be even lower than previous estimates. This article aims to measure clinical development success rates across the industry with a view to strengthening benchmarking metrics for drug development. The study is the largest and most recent of its kind, examining success rates of 835 drug developers, including biotech companies as well as specialty and large pharmaceutical firms from 2003 to 2011. Success rates for over 7,300 independent drug development paths are analyzed by clinical phase, molecule type, disease area and lead versus nonlead indication status.