This episode is titled “From here to there: What lies ahead for drug discovery”, which covers two articles written for Volume 22, Issue 3 – Summer 2021 of DDW. They are called “The complexity of disease biology gives opportunities for drug discovery” and “The human touch: the benefits of real-world evidence”. In the first article, Steve Gardner, CEO PrecisionLife, examines the lack of return on investment for pharmaceutical R&D and the huge pockets of unmet medical need in common chronic disorders. In the second article, Lu Rahman looks at the growing role of real world evidence and its benefits in the fight against Covid-19.