Outsourcing Is Changing Pharmaceutical Research – a Conversation With Kevin Lustig on the Empowered Patient

Kevin Lustig was invited by The Empowered Patient Radio Show after they heard Kevin at the Tech Coast Angels quick pitch competition. Kevin discusses the disruptive technology shift toward outsourcing aspects of drug development.

Pharmaceutical research has been performed in the same way for the last 50 years. A single lab or company performed all the research required to show safety and efficacy for an emerging drug. But drug development takes too long and costs too much. As a result, new models that improve efficiency in the process are needed. In the last 10 years, drug development has changed dramatically as research outsourcing has become commonplace. 30% of pharmaceutical research is done outside of the company through the use of contract research organizations (CROs). Scientist provides an online marketplace to connect researchers with services to accelerate the connections in pharmaceutical research. Scientist offers solutions for improving efficiency and effectiveness of drug discovery. Scientist’s research exchange:

• Empowers medical researchers
• Dramatically improves efficiency of med research process
• Harnesses the wisdom of the crowd

The result is a dramatic impact on how pharmaceutical research progresses.

A major benefit of the shifting landscape is the availability of specialized technical skills. Through research exchanges like Scientist, high-tech resources are now in the hand of the public. Anyone with the appropriate drive, interest and knowledge could effectively run and execute a full drug development pipeline from a laptop. This new approach to pharmaceutical research opens many possibilities to advancing medical treatments for our society

To hear the full conversation, listen here.