{"690010":{"#nid":"690010","#data":{"type":"news","title":"When Promising Cures Collapse Before They Reach Patients","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHospitals filled to capacity. Case counts climbing by the hour. Quarantine became routine.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt was the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe world needed a vaccine that didn\u2019t exist, and there was no clear timeline for one. No one knew how long the vaccine development process would take \u2014 or whether it would work at all.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThen, less than a year later,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.pfizer.com\/news\/press-release\/press-release-detail\/pfizer-and-biontech-announce-topline-data-demonstrating\u0022\u003EPfizer and BioNTech\u003C\/a\u003E set a record for how fast a drug moved from clinical trials to federal authorization \u2014 and to people waiting as the virus surged worldwide. \u0026nbsp;That speed depended on more than scientific discovery. It hinged on trials, regulatory approval, and manufacturing at scale.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EExperience Made the Difference\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStartup BioNTech, a small biotech firm, had spent years developing \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/medlineplus.gov\/genetics\/understanding\/therapy\/mrnavaccines\/\u0022\u003EmRNA technology\u003C\/a\u003E. Pfizer, a huge pharmaceutical company, brought deep experience running large clinical trials, working with regulators, and manufacturing at scale. The two companies had worked together before, which meant they did not have to build trust, decision-making structures, or workflows in the middle of a crisis. Trials moved quickly. They knew what regulators required and how to meet those demands.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Georgia Tech research, that kind of business alignment is far from common \u2014 and can explain why many promising drugs never reach patients.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scheller.gatech.edu\/directory\/faculty\/hora\/index.html\u0022\u003EManpreet Hora\u003C\/a\u003E, senior associate dean for programs and professor of operations management in Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.scheller.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EScheller College of Business\u003C\/a\u003E, studies what happens after a drug leaves the lab. In a study published in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/10591478261419268\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EProduction and Operations Management\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, he and his coauthors analyzed nearly 300 biotech\u2013pharma partnerships to understand why some drugs make it through and others stall.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u201cIf you are a patient, this process is out of your control,\u201d Hora said. \u201cIn some cases, it can cost lives.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EWhere It Breaks Down\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDrug development often depends on handoffs. Small biotech firms typically generate early discoveries. Larger pharmaceutical companies step in to run trials, work with regulators, and bring products to market.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut complications can arise when companies that lack similar experience levels try to develop the drug together.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDecision-making slows down. Roles become unclear. The process starts to erode.\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u0022That\u0027s why partner choice matters,\u0022 Hora said, comparing the process to a popular TV show. \u0022It\u0027s like going on \u003Cem\u003EShark Tank\u003C\/em\u003E \u2014 just because someone is offering money doesn\u0027t mean they\u0027re the right partner.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHora said the Pfizer\u2013BioNTech partnership worked because both companies approached the work the same way, despite the difference in their size. Pfizer is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. BioNTech was a much smaller firm.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EWhat Decides the Outcome\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs of September 2025,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.pfizer.com\/news\/press-release\/press-release-detail\/pfizer-and-biontech-announce-topline-data-demonstrating#:~:text=This%20study%20was%20conducted%20to,or%20equivalents%20in%20other%20countries.\u0026amp;text=COMIRNATY%20(COVID%2D19%20VACCINE%2C,severe%20outcomes%20from%20COVID%2D19.\u0022\u003E5 billion doses\u003C\/a\u003E of the Pfizer\u2013BioNTech Covid vaccine have been distributed globally.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPfizer\u2019s chairman and CEO,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.pfizer.com\/people\/leadership\/executives\/dr-albert_bourla\u0022\u003EAlbert Bourla\u003C\/a\u003E, attributes the unprecedented success to a \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/intuitionlabs.ai\/articles\/global-pharma-thought-leaders-profiles\u0022\u003Eworld class collaboration\u003C\/a\u003E\u201d with BioNTech. He said,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.atlanticcouncil.org\/blogs\/new-atlanticist\/pfizers-albert-bourla-on-how-the-pandemic-ends\/#:~:text=So%20that%20also%20followed%20me,during%20these%20eight%20marvelous%20months.\u0022\u003E\u0022I think it was because both companies had developed very similar cultures\u2026We were both really very purpose-driven.\u201d\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHora\u0027s research comes to the same conclusion: In an industry where drugs can take a decade to reach patients, the wrong partner can mean they never arrive at all.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new Georgia Tech study finds that when a drug succeeds or fails, the science is only half the story. The other half is whether the companies developing it actually fit together.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EManpreet Hora, a professor at Georgia Tech\u0027s Scheller College of Business, analyzed nearly 300 biotech\u2013pharma partnerships and found that mismatched partners, such as companies with different experience levels, cultures, or decision-making styles, stall drug development. Roles blur. Trials drag. Promising treatments never reach patients.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Pfizer\u2013BioNTech Covid vaccine is the counterexample: two companies, vastly different in size, aligned on purpose and process. That alignment is what made speed possible.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHora\u0027s takeaway: in an industry where drugs take a decade to reach patients, the wrong partner can mean they never arrive at all.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech research shows how misaligned biotech\u2013pharma partnerships can delay or derail drug development."}],"uid":"36410","created_gmt":"2026-04-24 16:58:28","changed_gmt":"2026-04-27 15:29:29","author":"mazriel3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-04-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-04-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680062":{"id":"680062","type":"image","title":"Biotech Partnerships","body":null,"created":"1777050820","gmt_created":"2026-04-24 17:13:40","changed":"1777050964","gmt_changed":"2026-04-24 17:16:04","alt":"Two medical professionals shaking hands in a lab","file":{"fid":"264298","name":"Biotech.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/04\/24\/Biotech.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/04\/24\/Biotech.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1959093,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/04\/24\/Biotech.png?itok=CYp9PkmA"}}},"media_ids":["680062"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"179350","name":"biomedical egnineering"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMichelle Azriel\u003Cbr\u003ESenior Writer, Editor \u2014 Research Communications\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:mazriel3@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emazriel3@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["mazriel3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}