Advances in technologies and knowledge are creating new avenues for research and opportunities for the discovery and clinical development of innovative therapies and diagnostics. However, despite these opportunities, only a small fraction of investigational products are successfully developed into cures and therapies that can be accessed by patients. One response to the ever-widening gap between the number and promise of basic scientific discoveries and the translation of those discoveries into therapies is a renewed emphasis on collaborative approaches among federal agencies, academia, and industry, all directed at the advancement of the drug development enterprise.

The newly developed Cures Acceleration Network (CAN)-a part of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-has the potential to catalyze widespread changes in NCATS, NIH, and the drug development ecosystem in general.

On June 4-5, 2012, the IOM Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation held, at the request of NCATS, a workshop-bringing together members of federal government agencies, the private sector, academia, and advocacy groups-to explore options and opportunities in the implementation of CAN. Accelerating the Development of New Drugs and Diagnostics: Maximizing the Impact of the Cures Acceleration Network: Workshop Summary summarizes the workshop.

• Front Matter
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Approaches to Accelerating Translational Science
• 3 Application of Matching Authority
• 4 Application of Flexible Research Authority
• 5 Situating CAN Within the Drug Development Ecosystem
• 6 Final Reflections on Ways to Maximize the Goals of CAN
• References
• Appendix A: Workshop Agenda
• Appendix B: Public Health Service Act, Title IV - National Institutes of Health
• Appendix C: Participant Biographies