A decade of innovation in pharmaceutical R&D: the Chorus model

Abstract

Chorus is a small, operationally independent clinical development organization within Eli Lilly and Company that specializes in drug development from candidate selection to clinical proof of concept. The mission of Chorus is to achieve proof of concept rapidly and at a low cost while positioning successful projects for 'pharma-quality' late-stage development. Chorus uses a small internal staff of experienced drug developers and a network of external vendors to design and implement chemistry, manufacturing and control processes, preclinical toxicology and biology, and Phase I/II clinical trials. In the decade since it was established, Chorus has demonstrated substantial productivity improvements in both time and cost compared to traditional pharmaceutical research and development. Here, we describe its development philosophy, organizational structure, operational model and results to date.

Opportunities and Challenges for Drug Development: Public–Private Partnerships, Adaptive Designs and Big Data

“…Some reported models focus on use of non-clinical or translational data to improve predictions of safety (Bowes et al, 2012) or efficacy (Dolgos et al, 2016). Others focus on target-centric approaches, particularly for new biological entities (Swinney and Anthony, 2011), more rapid paths to clinical proof-of-concept (Owens et al, 2015), or attempts to identify candidates for early termination, i.e., before the most expensive late-stage clinical development starts (Peck et al, 2015), or more systematic portfolio review to systematically challenge development candidates (Cook et al, 2014). Of note, risk mitigation is not only an important topic for the pharmaceutical industry but also in academic drug discovery (Dahlin et al, 2015).…”

Disciplined approach to drug discovery and early development

“…For small-molecule drug R&D programs, the physicochemical properties of the compounds correlate with failure in safety trials (6). Last, small clinical trials that test proof of concept (PoC) in a "fail fast" strategy reduce phase 2 and phase 3 attrition rates (12).…”

Complementary Approaches to Existing Target Based Drug Discovery for Identifying Novel Drug Targets

“…Merck has implemented question-based Translational Medicine Guide (TxM Guide) to foster lead optimization process [65]. While, Chorus working as independent clinical development organization within Eli Lilly and Company focused on drug candidate selection [89]. Some of the industries are following “quick-kill” or “fast-fail” strategy to reduce late pre-clinical stage attrition [90].…”