2011 and 2012 have been good years but the rate of innovation in drug development is anything but healthy, a venture investor focusing on the life sciences said yesterday at the U.S. Conference on Rare Diseases and Orphan Products underway this week in Washington DC.  Jonathan Leff, Managing Director, Warburg Pincus, said the products coming to market now result from investments made 10 – 12 years ago.  That investment is not happening today, he said.

Leff blamed this mostly on the continuing low probability of success, as well as the cost of drug development and the time required to bring products to market, both of which are increasing exponentially.  The number of new life sciences start-ups being financed by venture capital is at its lowest level in 17 years, he said.

Regulatory uncertainty, and disastrous increases in the cost of drug development and time required to bring a product to market are continuing themes at this conference, hosted by NORD and DIA.  The high failure rate and costs of drug development ultimately translate into high product costs, which are increasingly becoming an issue in the rare disease community.

This is a serious problem for both academic researchers and industry, but for patients the loss of innovative R & D is potentially devastating.