The case for open-access chemical biology. A strategy for pre-competitive medicinal chemistry to promote drug discovery.

Policy-makers and scientists are increasingly worried about the declining productivity of the pharmaceutical industry. Despite growing levels of investment from governments and industry, the number of new medicines that are approved each year has declined slowly during the past three decades (Betz, 2005; Booth & Zemmel, 2004; Cuatrecasas, 2006). The increased costs of drug discovery and development can no longer be supported by healthcare systems, and reg ulators are implementing control mechanisms such as price control schemes and increased regulatory demands, which could ultimately affect the drug discovery process by altering the financial and regulatory landscapes for new research programmes (Ess et al, 2003; Miller & Henderson, 2007).