IIT Joins Effort to Reduce Drug Development and Manufacturing Costs
Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) has joined an 11-university partnership with the Food and Drug Administration to conduct research and education in drug development and manufacturing. The new partnership, National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education (NIPTE), will work to improve the technologies involved in pharmaceutical development and manufacturing, with the intent to speed delivery to market of safe and affordable drugs.
The FDA reported in a March 2004 "white paper" that the cost of bringing a new drug to market rose by about 50 percent over a five-year period to as high as $1.7 billion. "That $1.7 billion figure includes all funds a company spends on the various steps of drug discovery and development, which is a considerable expense because only a small fraction of the attempts to develop new drugs succeeds," said Ali Cinar, Vice Provost for Research at IIT. "The development cost is so high that pharmaceutical companies can only afford to market blockbusters, consequently, if the drug doesn't hold promise to make a billion dollars a year, most companies don't even develop it. That prevents many potentially good medicines from reaching consumers. Efficiency in drug development and manufacturing will yield significant cost reductions and encourage companies to develop additional drugs."
The FDA also said in the same white paper that a serious impediment to bringing to market new drugs was outdated manufacturing practices. The cost of development and manufacturing is estimated to be 25% of the total cost of a new drug. Research and education in these areas will lead to higher efficiency in pharmaceutical technology, thus resulting in cost reductions, which would be passed directly (price reduction) or indirectly (recycle of savings into R&D investments for new drugs by pharmaceutical companies) to the consumer. Research and education in drug development and manufacturing, in stark contrast to drug discovery, do not receive much federal funding currently. Yet, they are essential in improving drug manufacturing technologies, enhancing product safety and quality, and educating the workforce. The need for manufacturing efficiency and safety, rapid transition to manufacture a different drug, and enhanced product quality and safety become critical in emergency situations. "In times like these when there is a national initiative to assure vaccine and drug supplies, and develop effective vaccines to deal with flu pandemics, we cannot afford the risk of contaminated vaccines that may result from outdated manufacturing practices" said Dimitri Hatziavramidis, Director of the Particle Technology and Crystallization Center at IIT. IIT has expertise in fundamental drug manufacturing technologies, process supervision and quality control, and toxicology, areas that complement expertise areas of other NIPTE members.
NIPTE is seeking federal funding and is initially being supported with seed funding from its members, who include in addition to IIT: Purdue University, Rutgers University, University of Puerto Rico, University of Connecticut, University of Iowa, University of Kansas, University of Kentucky, University of Maryland, University of Minnesota and Duquesne University.
Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting technological university awarding degrees in the sciences, mathematics and engineering, as well as architecture, psychology, design, business and law. IIT’s interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum prepares the university’s 6,200 students for leadership roles in an increasingly complex and culturally diverse global workplace.
