Pharmaceutical industry, academia and patient advocacy organizations: what is the recipe for synergic (win-win-win) collaborations?

Biological complexity and the need for highly differentiated medicines means that drug discovery and development have become increasingly challenging and expensive. Thus, new paradigms for research and drug development need to be created that bring together a wide array of expertise. One potential solution is collaboration between bio-pharma and academic research centres. Two examples are discussed, one with a large pharma company (GlaxoSmithKline) and the other a small biotech (Genoa Pharmaceuticals). Patient advocacy organization can also have role in assisting in the creation of these partnerships by informing patients of ongoing research and clinical trials, and supporting the development of networks that can provide major benefit for both basic research and drug development. A major 'hurdle' for the creation of these relationships is the issue of intellectual property. Examples are provided of how this issue can be resolved.