Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

TheSaltySeagull1987 t1_j2cyi10 wrote

Reply to comment by captain_joe6 in ELI5 Why aren't we curing more degenerative diseases with stem cell research? by KaishiXYZ

Isn't it more a case of funding (bang for buck) and necessity? Vaccines for COVID-19 were developed at light speed (really big bang) compared to the usual time it takes.

11

Rahf t1_j2d6v85 wrote

A lot of research springs out of discovery from individual scientists, or small teams. These can then form a company in order to keep developing this drug or treatment, but will need to acquire funds and then drive the clinical pipeline with at least three major clinical trials.

Most so-called candidates you find in active clinical trials are always presenting themselves as a more effective way to treat a certain illness, or a completely new treatment for an illness that doesn't have effective cures or management therapies at this moment--there are many.

Each clinical trial can by itself take months or years to complete. That's not counting the preparatory work before as well as the complementary work after they finish. And this is assuming the company or group of people involved are constantly able to raise millions upon millions of dollars in capital to pay for this.

The big pharmaceutical companies draw benefit from their financial muscle, administrative power, and absolute knowledge on regulatory demands. So their pipelines are more streamlined, yet still take years upon years.

The Covid vaccines were extraordinary circumstances. They are not good examples of the timelines involved, because nearly every resource available was availed to that research and approval. Which meant everything else that was next in line got bumped down or to the side, and thus delayed.

Why does it take all this time? Because we have placed high demands on treatment being safe and effective, or at least not immediately dangerous to the patient.

14

DMRexy t1_j2dgzkl wrote

People underestimate how much the research for COVID vaccines was streamlined. It didn't skip steps, but every step could happen immediately as soon as the previous was done. No waiting around for funding, no trying to convince anyone that it's a worthwhile project, no being sidelined because something else was more profitable. Just GO GO GO. Thousands and thousands of researchers worldwide with a singular focus.

It was pretty cool to see.

15

FenderMoon t1_j2dj4u7 wrote

Makes me wish we could have that sense of urgency about things more often. Usually we get so wound up with red tape that we drag things out for years before they ever even see the light of day.

4

DMRexy t1_j2dpxzv wrote

While I see where you're coming from, I kind of hope we never need that sense of urgency again haha

3

hsvsunshyn t1_j2e4lq6 wrote

Less red tape would be good, but there are still a lot of people who remember things like thalidomide. For regular things, the need for the process is critical. Often, research, funding, or various stages of trials and other testing is delayed because the benefits or results of previous stages/documentation did not clearly show what the approvers needed to see, or the information provided was suspect.

Note that some cases, such as approval for off-label uses for medicines that are already proven safe, work their way through the process much faster, since the main question is the efficacy; the question about safety was previously answered in earlier work/approvals.

For the COVID vaccines, saying that it was "streamlined" almost does not do it justice. If a step was completed at 8:00 PM on a Friday for anything else, the next step would not start until Monday at the earliest. For COVID, the people involved in the next step would be at the office at 7:30 PM, waiting for the previous step to be complete, and they would be prepared to work overnight, then hand off to the next step at 6:00 AM Saturday morning, and so on.

It is an unsustainable pace overall, but it worked for that single need.

3