MRF  President Scott Johnson recently spent some time talking with writers at the Arabella Philanthropic Advisors who were working on an issues brief to advise their clients on best practices in making philanthropic gifts for medical research. The  Issue Brief, produced in collaboration with FasterCures, explores strategies donors can employ to help improve the current medical research process and to support the search for breakthrough treatments and cures. The MRF’s research model was featured in the brief as one of the success stories.

According to the brief, the philanthropic sector provides $918 billion to support medical research, small compared to the billions spent by the NIH & pharmaceutical companies, but philanthropists operate with fewer constraints and have the opportunity to support higher-risk, yet potentially high-impact research — work that is crucial in making breakthroughs.

There are many challenges in moving treatments through the therapeutic drug discovery pipeline:

- The lack of incentives for translational research – the Valley of Death between basic science discoveries and commercial development.

- Institutional constraints - As R&D costs rocket, companies are becoming more risk-averse. Academic scientists are also incentivized to only focus on basic science which isn’t sufficient to develop therapies for patients.

- Roadblocks to collaboration - The pressure to publish, tenureship and the peer review system which determines grant funding are factors that discourage scientists from collaborating. There are no cross-disciplinary approaches being used to further a discovery.

The issue brief advises how philanthropists can encourage change in the system by investing in certain activities or encouraging innovation in existing organizations:

• Help close the translational gap: funding efforts to collect data and samples for patients, support programs to expand networks of clinical trial sites or invest in new models for testing treatments.
• Invest in validation work: To ensure a product’s commercial relevance, companies & investors need to see replicated results or published papers indicating a discovery’s promise.
• Fund collaboration: Support organizations as they develop processes for sharing data & establish metrics for measuring success. Fund online tools & infrastructure to facilitate collaboration. Support efforts to bring scientists together to exchange ideas and share best practices.
• Tell the story: Support documentaries or education programs that raise awareness and help the general public understand the current system and its limitations.

As supporters of the Myelin Repair Foundation know, we are already working on all four areas listed above. We have also recently launched our WhereAreTheCures.org site to educate the general public on the barriers in the current medical research system.

If a donor is currently giving to an organization working on a disease they care most about they should ask to see a research and development strategy, hold the organization accountable by asking how they measure progress, find out their interim milestones and ask to see their management plan and list of advisors.

Download the PDF of the Medical Innovation Issue Brief to read more.