[refoundable]

You're right on the money.

Any breakthrough that could either dramatically shorten the feedback cycle (from years to weeks), or reduce the cost of drug development by 100-1000x would unlock so much value as to completely reshape the structure of the Pharma industry.

The consolidation of the industry in recent decades could be justified by the high fixed costs of drug development that made it necessary to seek greater economies of scale, but in a world where the cost of drug development drops precipitously, the pendulum could swing in the other direction, unleashing a wave of decentralization in the industry.

Absent this kind of breakthrough, I expect only more intense regulatory and pricing pressures for the Pharma industry in coming years.