July 22, 2022 -- The drug discovery process is expensive, time-consuming, and often inconclusive. But what if the biotech industry adopted the lessons learned from Operation Warp Speed, the public-private partnership that accelerated COVID-19 vaccine development, and applied them to this vexing challenge?
While the failure of preclinical drug candidates is a well-known and expensive problem, there is much to be learned from the success of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout that can be leveraged in the drug discovery process going forward, according to Debrah Thompson, PhD, vice president of scientific innovation at life sciences company HTG Molecular Diagnostics.
Thompson contends that during Operation Warp Speed data was used in a more intelligent and effective manner that helped to expedite the drug discovery process, a data-driven approach that can be applied to find the path of least resistance for other drugs, vaccines, and lifesaving treatments.
"The more that we can figure out how to use the data that we have -- not storing it, not putting it in the database, but actually saying 'what does this mean?' -- I think the better off we're going to be and there are so many opportunities. There's never been a better time," Thompson told ScienceBoard.net.
Thompson said that Operation Warp Speed proved that despite the inherent risks "you can move very swiftly without compromising quality."
Watch the video below to learn more.