Journal of Alzheimers Disease & Parkinsonism
Open Access

Abstract

As the prevalence of Alzheimer��?s disease (AD) grows, so does the costs it imposes on the society. Yet, despite a significant number of drugs showing promise in animal models, progress is being stifled by a breakdown in the return on investment (ROI) model at the clinical stage of drug discovery. For complex diseases like Alzheimer's, research progress depends on the trial and error of real-world phase 1 & 2 clinical trials. Due to the high cost of clinical research, this stage of drug discovery depends on industry-led investment. The average cost of developing a new drug, per billion US dollars spent on R&D, has doubled roughly every nine years since 1950. That means, adjusted for inflation, it costs 80 times more to develop a new drug today than it did in 1950. The observation of this trend was coined Eroom��?s law by industry analyst Jack Scannell in 2012, writing in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. The current ROI from internal R&D in the pharmaceutical industry as a whole is an average 3.7%. For Alzheimer's, this model has broken down altogether and has led most major pharmaceuticals to downsize or close their Alzheimer��?s research divisions. A structural solution to the current financial model is needed if we are to make progress to a cure. InvestAcure��?s Public Benefit Corporation model offers one such solution, by transitioning investment leadership from the current venture capital model to micro-investment by those impacted by the disease. mtokarsky@investacure.com

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