Page 107 - Binder2
P. 107

The answer isn’t scientific.
               It’s structural.

               We didn’t ignore tolerance because we didn’t understand it.
               We ignored it because the system never demanded it.


               For decades, drug development has been governed by a
               singular metric: statistically significant short-term
               efficacy. If a biologic can show a clear response at Week
               12 or Week 24—a drop in inflammatory markers, a
               reduction in lesion size, a validated score improvement—it
               clears the bar. That’s the win. Regulatory approval secured.
               Market access unlocked. Sales projections justified. Bonus
               structures triggered.

               Everything else—durability, tolerability, immune
               integration—is treated as optional.
               As “nice to have” if it fits the timeline, but never essential
               to the launch strategy. In a regulatory climate where only
               18% of biologics see approval why risk it?

               Tolerization?
               That’s a post-launch problem—something tucked into the
               domain of pharmacovigilance, handled by safety teams
               who file periodic reports and monitor adverse events long
               after the press release has gone out. It’s not something that
               derails a submission, delays an approval, or shakes investor
               confidence. So it rarely rises to the level of strategic
               concern during development.

               ADA rates?
               They’re measured, yes—but inconsistently, often using
               non-standardized assays, and almost always framed to
               reassure, not to warn. If they appear at all in the trial data,
               they’re buried deep in the appendix—footnoted, de-
               emphasized, statistically defanged. What matters to

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