Academic research plays a key role in identifying new drug targets, including understanding target biology and links between targets and disease states. To lead to new drugs, however, research must progress from purely academic exploration to the initiation of efforts to identify and test a drug candidate in clinical trials, which are typically conducted by the biopharma industry. This transition can be facilitated by a timely focus on target assessment aspects such as target-related safety issues, druggability and assayability, as well as the potential for target modulation to achieve differentiation from established therapies. Here, we present recommendations from the GOT-IT working group, which have been designed to support academic scientists and funders of translational research in identifying and prioritizing target assessment activities and in defining a critical path to reach scientific goals as well as goals related to licensing, partnering with industry or initiating clinical development programmes. Based on sets of guiding questions for different areas of target assessment, the GOT-IT framework is intended to stimulate academic scientists’ awareness of factors that make translational research more robust and efficient, and to facilitate academia–industry collaboration.

学术研究在确定新药物靶点方面发挥着关键作用，包括了解靶点生物学以及靶点与疾病状态之间的联系。然而，为了开发新药，研究必须从纯粹的学术探索发展到在临床试验中识别和测试候选药物的努力，这通常由生物制药行业进行。通过及时关注靶点评估方面（例如与靶点相关的安全性问题、成药性和可测定性）以及靶点调节以实现与现有疗法的差异化的潜力，可以促进这种转变。在此，我们提出 GOT-IT 工作组的建议，这些建议旨在支持学术科学家和转化研究资助者确定目标评估活动并确定其优先顺序，并确定实现科学目标以及与许可相关的目标的关键路径，与行业合作或启动临床开发计划。GOT-IT 框架基于不同目标评估领域的指导性问题，旨在激发学术科学家对使转化研究更加稳健和高效的因素的认识，并促进学术界与工业界的合作。