Accelerating Rare Disease Drug Discovery

For many rare disease patients, the drug discovery and development process moves slower than the diseases they are battling. Earlier this month, representatives of the patient community joined with academic researchers and drug developers at the Charles River Rare Disease Symposium in Cambridge, Massachusetts to explore way to accelerate the process of drug discovery and move more quickly toward human clinical trials. We spoke to Doug Macdonald, director of research operations and scientific alliances for CHDI Management and Antti Nurmi, managing director of Charles River Discovery Services, about the obstacles to rare disease drug discovery, the critical role collaborations play, and what can be done to accelerate the process.