Interesting question posed by Pharmaceutical Executive, the industry mag. Insiders are asked whether they believe drugmakers should scale back the number of therapeutic areas in which they’re doing research.

It’s not clear if the polling is completed or how many participated, but so far, a clear majority believe slimming down, in some fashion, is helpful. In fact, 38 percent believe the move will help cut costs and allow companies to direct resources to core areas in which they have expertise.

Another 44 percent say that cutting down the number of targets is a start, but doesn’t address the real issue of how to increase the number of compounds in the pipeline. That’s certainly true.

Only 19 percent, however, reject the idea, because the move doesn’t give companies enough flexibility to expand into promising indications, when necessary. They want it all.

Difficult choices, to be sure. Place your bets on cancer and you’ve lost, big time, when the next hot thing comes along in the central nervous system or cardiovascular arenas. The reality is that a drugmaker can’t be all things to all patients, can it? We’ll leave this one to the chief scientists to sort out.

[tags]Research & Development[/tags]