New FDA rules that are coming out to help streamline early-stage drug development, as reported yesterday by the Wall Street Journal, are a welcome sight. These changes may be small considering the long, expensive road to FDA approval, but they signal a willingness by the agency to make sensible changes that don't raise safety concerns but do reduce the cost of drug development and improve target identification methods. As the industry shifts from a focus on blockbusters to more targeted, personalized medicines, these kinds of changes are crucial. We hope and expect to see more improvements to the pipeline process as 2006 progresses.
Also, just a reminder that I'll be looking hard at Fierce 15 nominations through the next eight weeks or so. I've already received quite a few excellent suggestions and I'd value some more input. Also, FierceBiotech is planning a series of webinars through the year. We had a great webinar last fall on venture capital that drew more than 400 sign-ups and had one of the best turnouts ever for all the FierceMarket publications. I'd like to do one webinar on the new FDA regs, one on licensing and dealmaking, a follow-up on venture capital and others to be decided. So if you have ideas on topics and experts who can discuss them, pass them along to [email protected]. In addition, we'll be sending out our special report on economic development hot spots on January 25. Finally, FierceBiotech will not publish Monday, January 16, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The markets are closed, and so are we. We'll return Tuesday, January 17. - John Carroll