Patient-Specific Stem Cells and Cardiovascular Drug Discovery

The pharmaceutical industry faces numerous challenges in the development of novel compounds. Phase 2 clinical trial success rates are at a 5-year low of 22%, and the average number of preclinical drug development programs needed to produce a single new drug has increased from 12 to 30 between 2007 and 2012 alone. If drug development is to remain commercially viable in the future, the current model for drug discovery and development must undergo a fundamental shift. To reduce these high attrition rates and increased costs, drug developers need to be able to predict and identify potential efficacy and safety issues as early as possible during the drug discovery process. Here, Mordwinkin et al examine why recent advances in iPSC-CMs present an important opportunity to improve preclinical drug discovery.