How can more accurate preclinical testing reduce the cost of developing treatments?

More accurate preclinical testing is essential to reducing the high costs of drug development because current models often lack the predictive accuracy needed to reliably screen candidate products. When preclinical models fail to accurately reflect human responses, many drugs proceed to expensive clinical trials only to fail, wasting significant resources.12

By improving the reliability of these initial screenings, translational medicine facilitates the more rapid validation of viable products and helps prevent the advancement of ineffective or unsafe treatments into the clinic. This shift is critical because the cost of carrying a product through laboratory testing and clinical trials to regulatory approval can reach tens of millions of dollars. Furthermore, more accurate testing helps avoid the "shelving" of potentially life-saving treatments that may have shown misleading results in animal models but could have been effective in humans. Ultimately, enhancing preclinical accuracy serves as a vital cost-effective solution, helping to close the gap between basic research and successful clinical application.12