If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you’ll know I often say drug discovery is more like poker than chess (see here and here). You are also likely familiar with our end-to-end R&D principles at Bristol Myers Squibb – our belief that if we select the right targets based on human biology, match the right kind of medicine to the biological mechanism of disease, and provide early evidence that an idea is working, we can increase the probability of success and accelerate the pace of delivering transformational medicines to more patients.
Recently, I built out my poker analogy more thoroughly in a presentation at the Broad Institute’s Variant to Function (V2F) Symposium. Using specific examples within the BMS portfolio, I demonstrated the connection between poker and our R&D principles, highlighting assets at different stages of play. You can view the full presentation here.
The crux of my thesis is this: strong causal human biology, paired with the right modality for the mechanism of action, gives you a great starting hand – much like being dealt a queen and an ace in a round of Texas Hold ‘em poker. But a great starting hand isn’t always a winning hand.…