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

• Published in: Nature reviews. Drug discovery Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 17 - 28
• Main Authors: Owens, Paul K., Raddad, Eyas, Miller, Jeffrey W., Stille, John R., Olovich, Kenneth G., Smith, Neil V., Jones, Rosie S., Scherer, Joel C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01-01-2015; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/154/2426; 692/308/153; Analysis; Animals; Biomedicine; Biotechnology; Cancer Research; Clinical Trials as Topic - trends; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical - trends; Drug Industry - organization & administration; Drug Industry - trends; Humans; Innovations; Medicinal Chemistry; Molecular Medicine; Organizational Innovation; outlook-3; Pharmaceutical industry; Pharmaceutical research; Pharmacology/Toxicology; Research - organization & administration; Research - trends; United States
• ISSN: 1474-1776; 1474-1784
• DOI: 10.1038/nrd4497

Chorus is a small, operationally independent organization within Eli Lilly and Company that specializes in drug development from candidate selection through to clinical proof of concept. Here, we describe its development philosophy, organizational structure, operational model and results in the decade since it was established, which indicate substantial productivity improvements in both time and cost compared to traditional drug development approaches.
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.