On the Front Lines of Science

In recent years, medical breakthroughs including new drug therapies and early disease monitoring technologies have accelerated rapidly. This has created wide-ranging transformations in patient care. But, these life-changing medical developments often come with challenges.

To examine the current state of biopharmaceutical science, PhRMA recently kicked off an expert panel as part of an ongoing national dialogue on The New Era of Medicine.

Breakthroughs, challenges and the future of modern medicine are rapidly evolving. Stephen Elledge, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, Julie Wolf-Rodda, director of development at the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health and Daniel Skovronsky, senior vice president of clinical and product development at Eli Lilly and Company, sat down to discuss what this means for research and patient care.

Skovronsky shared his thoughts on the differences between working in academia, at a biotech startup and for a large biopharmaceutical company. By joining a large company, his eyes were opened to the industrial scale research capabilities available within the biopharmaceutical industry and the ability of companies to conduct groundbreaking science and deliver medicines directly to patients. Throughout his career he has focused on drug development for Alzheimer’s disease, and has great excitement for continued breakthroughs that can be made in an environment where industry, government and academia collaborate.