Amidst this larger debate about drug prices and pharmaceutical innovation, there is a growing consensus of a need for reform in the industry and how it is regulated. The substance of the necessary reforms remains subject to great debate, however, and the policies chosen by Congress are likely to have significant consequences for the public. This conference aimed to address a range of questions about the opportunities for greater efficiency in drug development and markets such as: Are the mergers sweeping through the pharmaceutical industry really enhancing the productivity of 13 pharmaceutical R&D? Do the FDA’s stringent clinical-trial requirements block public access to valuable new drugs? Should the clinical-trial data submitted to the FDA be made available to the public and competing pharmaceutical companies? And what effects — if any — does patent length have on public health and public access to medication in the United States? For two half-days, leaders from industry and academia met to debate the issues and to inform one another’s perspectives on this crucial but complex and often misunderstood issue in drug development.