In September 2012, when National Institutes of Health (NIH) neurologist Chris Austin took charge of a new translational science center, he faced a host of skeptics. In launching the new center, NIH Director Francis Collins said he wanted to re-engineer drug development to speed new treatments to the clinic. But some accused NIH of wanting to become a drug company or solve the pharmaceutical industry’s challenges—a notion one former CEO likened to believing in fairies. It fell to Austin to prove that the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences wasn’t going to compete with industry, but could give it new tools. After 7 years, the jury is still out.
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