David’s paper written with colleagues from AstraZeneca is entitled “Lessons learned from the fate of AstraZeneca’s drug pipeline: a five-dimensional framework”  and is a comprehensive analysis of AstraZeneca’s portfolio between 2005-2010. The paper examines in detail the root-causes for drug project failure and identifies several features (“The 5Rs”) which describe successful R&D programmes.

David Cook said “This paper presents the outcome of a major portfolio review performed within AstraZeneca and identifies lessons and principles that are applicable to all drug discovery and development projects. By adopting these principles we can ensure that we maximize the likely success of our projects by having a clear understanding of patient needs and how new drugs will meet these needs. These principles also help us focus programmes on efficiently answering the key questions that must be addressed during R&D if we are to bring new treatments to patients and the market.”