Clinical trials as of now are very long and expensive, it takes $1-2 bln and 8-10 years for a promising molecule to be tested and approved. MAny promising drugs cannot be tested in trials because they cannot be patented.

Are there any potential ways to shorten the process and make it less expensive?

As computation improves, much early stage development can be better modelled. This considerably saves time and money.

Ethics committees are always looking to streamline their services, but the nature of bureaucracy only allows so much improvement.

Developing an opt-in culture to research could help mid-late stage development, where whenever someone engages with health services they are automatically informed of potential trials.

In general i suspect that as various health tech platforms start to monitor people in health and disease, that data will become a viable currency that individuals could sell (or give away freely). Could be useful for post-licence surveillance and phase 4 trials.

 

2 hours ago, Hans de Vries said:

MAny promising drugs cannot be tested in trials because they cannot be patented.

I'm not sure that is true. Source?

15 hours ago, Hans de Vries said:

Are there any potential ways to shorten the process and make it less expensive?

The easy way is to sacrifice safety.

 

21 hours ago, Hans de Vries said:

Are there any potential ways to shorten the process and make it less expensive?

Many, and all involve rushing a process that's in place to prevent rushing the process to favor profit over safety. "Promising" ≠ promise. 

If we don't respect the process, we're vulnerable to agendas that don't include better health and trustworthy drugs.