Drugs developed by the fastest companies each gained an  average of $1.1 billion in incremental prescription revenue and saved an  average of $30 million in out-of-pocket development costs, compared to those of  the slowest companies, according to Tufts University’s Center for the Study of  Drug Development (CSDD). The study was published in the center’s  September/October 

 “Speed demon companies-those that perform  consistently better across a number of dimensions, earn higher revenues and  have lower development costs-implement efficient practices across their  portfolios,” said Ken Getz, senior research fellows at CSDD, and coauthor of  the study. 

 “The study shows that “speed is not a chance  event,” according to Getz. “Speedy companies implement activities that have a  dramatic impact on development cycles.”

  Between 2000 and 2005, the fastest  drug development companies were Bayer, Astra-Zeneca, Allergan, Boehringer  Ingelheim, and Merck, according to CSDD. Each shortened its development and  regulatory cycles by as much as 17 months, compared to average performing drug  developers. 

As a group, the fastest third of companies  reduced their median development speed by 20% (from 66.5 months in 1994–1999 to  53 months in 2000–2005) and held regulatory cycle times flat at approximately  13 months in the 2000–20005 period.

“Speed-demon” companies beat the median overall  cycle time more than 83% of the time, in each therapeutic area where they  compete.

The fastest companies terminate 56% of  discontinued projects in phase 1 clinical development vs. 36% for slowest  companies.

According to Getz, although the  strategies of the fast drug developers vary, all of the companies:

Kill projects sooner, rather than ignore  unfixable problems

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Drugs developed by the fastest companies each gained an average of $1.1 billion in incremental prescription revenue and saved an average of $30 million in out-of-pocket development costs, compared to those of the slowest companies, according to Tufts University's Center for the Study of Drug Development (CSDD).