The "Four Revolutions" of pharmaceuticals: The Singularity and the birth of Kings on the road to new drug development

The development of new drugs is the cornerstone of the pharmaceutical industry.

Chemical purification and synthesis technology opened the modern pharmaceutical industry;

Target-based pharmaceutical research and biologics began to rise, driving the CRO format;

The birth of translational medicine has promoted the rapid application of research and development results to the clinic.

The emergence of AI will trigger a big explosion in the development of new drugs.

These key technologies have become key nodes in the research and development of new drugs, giving birth to the birth of the "king". Those who were able to master these revolutionary technologies first eventually formed the echelon of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies.

01, chemical synthesis drugs, laying the modern pharmaceutical pattern

The development of pharmaceutical industry has gone through different stages from chemical drugs to biological agents.

Since around 1805, pharmacists have isolated pure chemical components from traditional medicinal plants, such as morphine and cocaine.

By 1895, German dye manufacturers had perfected the purification of individual organic compounds and established basic methods for organic chemical synthesis. A number of chemical synthesis drugs were born, such as anesthetic ether, aspirin and so on.

"Chemical synthesis drugs" opened the modern pharmaceutical research and development, and also gave birth to a group of the earliest modern pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer, Merck, Roche, GSK, Novartis, BMS, AbbVie... They account for almost 70% of the TOP10 global pharmaceutical companies in 2020.

Among them, German-Merck is the world's oldest modern pharmaceutical company,

In 1804, he mastered the technique of isolating and purifying morphine in his laboratory.

The large-scale production and commercial sale of morphine began in 1827, ushering in the commercialization of modern pharmaceuticals.

Uk-gsk (the 9th pharmaceutical company in the world in 2020), began to produce patented drugs in 1842, and became the world's first pharmaceutical factory in 1859.

United States - Pfizer (2020 global pharmaceutical company 7th).

During the American Civil War (1861-1865), due to the soaring demand for painkillers, anti-infection, etc., the drug sales business began to develop rapidly.

In addition, due to its leading chemical production technology, it has become one of the largest chemical companies in the United States by the early 20th century, and has since laid the foundation for its shift to pharmaceutical research and development production.

United States -BMS (2020 global pharmaceutical company 6th).

During the American Civil War (1861-1865), he became a major medical products middleman for the Union Army.

Clinton Pharmaceuticals was purchased in 1887.

In 1890 he introduced his first product Sal Hepatica (a mineral salt laxative).

United States - Eli Lilly, founded in 1876 and began marketing the malaria drug quinine.

In 1883, it produced its first best-selling product, Succus Alteran, for the treatment of syphilis and certain types of rheumatic and skin diseases such as eczema and psoriasis; Revenue from the product has helped fund its expansion of production and research.

Novartis, Switzerland (formed in 1996 by the merger of two Swiss companies Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz Laboratories, the world's second largest pharmaceutical company in 2020).

In 1917, Sandoz began drug research.

In 1943, Swiss chemists Arthur Stoll and Albert Hofmann discovered the psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamine (LSD) in Sandoz's laboratory.

Sandoz began marketing it as a psychiatric drug in the mid-1960s.

Switzerland - Roche (2020 global pharmaceutical company No. 1), founded in 1894, mainly produces a small number of pharmaceutical and chemical products.

In 1896, the business began to focus on: specialty prescription drugs, plant alkaloid drugs and extracted synthetic drugs.

United States - Abbott, (AbbVie spun out in 2012, ranked No. 3 global pharmaceutical companies in 2020).

In 1894, the Abbott alkaloid Company was founded.

In 1916, Chlorazene, the first synthetic antibiotic, was produced.

United States - Merck, (separated from Merck, Germany, the 5th pharmaceutical company in the world in 2020) was founded in 1891.

In 1903, a new pharmaceutical plant was built in New Jersey to replace the original pure import business.

In 1917, during World War I, all German businesses in the United States were confiscated and separated from German Merck.

02, targeted drugs and biologics, CRO value highlights

Research into pharmaceutical processes based on compounds flourished until molecular biology became widespread in the 1960s.

Since then, under the guidance of molecular biology and high-throughput screening, target-based pharmaceutical research and biologics have begun to rise.

The period from the late 1980s to around 2000 saw technological innovation and the introduction of a series of blockbuster drugs.

In 1986, the first therapeutic monoclonal antibody (Orthoclone OKT3) was approved to prevent kidney transplant rejection, but murine monoclonal antibody (now withdrawn);