Analgesic drug development as currently undertaken is limited by a number of factors that contribute to the paucity of new analgesics introduced into clinical practice despite marked advances in delineating of the molecular-genetic mechanisms contributing to acute and chronic pain. The participants in this workshop explored the unmet need in analgesia and recommended strategies for enhancing analgesic drug development in the future. The workshop concluded that translating scientific advances into improved pain relief will require new thinking and a cooperative effort among the pharmaceutical industry, regulatory agencies, funding agencies, the biomedical research community, professional societies and clinicians. The workshop also recommended that a better understanding of the epidemiology of pain could contribute to improvement in clinical trial methodology and outcome measures.