A conversation with Elias Zerhouni

It is not surprising that Elias Zerhouni, president of global R&D at Sanofi, thinks that NIH funding is the top public policy priority for the biopharma industry-he served as the NIH's director from 2002 to 2008. It is surprising, however, that he does not think more money is the solution.

In an interview with SciBX, Zerhouni said that the problem is structural. Researchers cannot get independent funding until they are in their 40s, long past the time when many scientists are capable of making their most valuable contributions. To address this issue, Zerhouni advocates a dedicated national fund for young scientists. He also advocates introducing more flexibility into university science programs, not just pouring more money into the NIH...