This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

If we are serious about rescuing potential new drugs from the valley of death, then academia, the NIH, and disease foundations will have to change how they operate. That is happening, albeit slowly. Private foundations such as the MMRF, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, and the Myelin Repair Foundation (for multiple sclerosis) have veered away from the NIH model of “here’s some money; go discover something.” Instead, they are managing and directing scientists more closely, requiring them to share data before it is published, cooperate, and do the nonsexy development work required after a discovery is made.

Great article, patient. Thanks for posting--seems like a new medical model is desperately needed.



cheer

I disagree with the article, from my perspective, basic science is not doing well. Now in order to get funding you have to do translational, read in vivo, research. Some of the best basic scientists I know cannot get funded. Now one of my colleagues is talking about doing in vivo first, i.e. dose the rat with drugs and measure behavior, then if that works, do the bench work. I think that is backwards and is going to lead to more stuff getting into the clinic for which we do not know the mechanism. Add on, most clinical trials are paid for by drug companies, so they will pay to test their new drugs regardless of whether it is the best treatment. Drugs and treatments they cannot make $$ on will not get into trials. We are fucked until Joe Sixpack and whomever he elects get their freekin' fingers out of research and let it go back to peer review so we have a good mix of basic and applied research. As it is now, it leans too far toward applied, so we don't learn enough about mechanism.

Oh well.