Blog 5-Entrepreneurship, Leaders, HR

·     

Carla Llaneza

Business 1.0

Professor Lamel

18 April 2013

·       Who have been some influential leaders (Founders, CEOs) in the industry over the past 20 years?

      To be one of the most competitive industries to enter into, the leadership behind success of the pharmaceutical industry's must boil down to those large profile and hard-working CEO's. Company names such as Pfizer, Astrazeneca, and Merck are ones that stand out as companies by which lead the market and couldn't be there without the opportunities granted by the Chief Executive Officers. An example of one of the greatest CEO's of our time would be P. Roy Vagelos of Merck. While he presided at Merck, it was said to be one of the largest pharmaceutical drug companies around (forbes.com). This "giant" as described in an article on Forbes.com, took it upon himself to assist in the creation of cholesterol, high blood pressure pills and even a vaccine for the chicken pox (forbes.com).  Previously CEO before Kenneth Frazier, Vagelos was described by him as "one of the best" (forbes.com). He had recently gone to visit Vagelos at his home even though he had retired in 1994 after being CEO for Merck since 1985. His accomplishments reach way past the good standing in the company. Because of Merck's past leadership, it seems that the new CEO for the company is finding it to himself that he also be able to reign over the company as well as Mr. Vagelos did.

      Another CEO of large importance would be Novartis CEO, Joseph Jimenez. Although his standing as been rather new compared to some of the others, he has driven the company to high standards. His view is to get past what the United States and the European countries have to offer (businessinsider.com). Globalizing is the future of the pharmaceutical industry and he understand the shifts and changes to the company very well. He believes countries such as Russia and Africa are worthy of investment and the future of the pharmaceutical industry as a whole. He also understands that there is a large trend towards technology and being technology based as the future of business seems to be headed in this new direction. "The data revolution" should bring great things to the Novartis company and for future always provide new ways of expanding (businessinsider.com). 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2013/04/17/merck-could-return-to-greatness-if-ceo-can-leave-his-own-past-behind/

http://www.businessinsider.com/novartis-ceo-on-how-pharma-can-survive-2013-4

Innovation

There is much opportunity for innovating in the pharmaceutical industry.  There is in fact infinite of it.  One of the most important ways that the industry needs innovation in is the way it looks at and treats disease.  For much of the disease that is rampant in today’s world cannot be solved by injections or by a specific pill.  One can no longer just treat the symptoms the underlying causes must also be addressed.  The best example of this is obesity, there is no wonder pill that will solve it yet and there may well never be one.  The industry needs to convince people to live healthily and profit from that instead of spending billions on drugs that don’t always work.

In more traditional sense there is always room for innovating many things in the industry.  One of them would be thinking of new and cheaper ways to make the drugs that are being used.  This would create huge profits for the industry.  In the same fashion innovating the materials used in drugs, improving them, making them more effective, removing side effects.  These are all vital innovations that will help the industry.

Another example of possible innovations is that the industry could focus on more personalized care.  This would create brand awareness and foster great customer loyalty.  If that one company has insured your survival several times and helped you get in shape it stands to reason you will continue to use their services even if the other company may be cheaper.  In this world brand loyalty is becoming more and more vital.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jump/2012/08/08/three-imperatives-to-transform-innovation-in-pharma/2/

Blog #5

Parth Patel
Business 1.0
April 1st 2013

Blog #5

  What opportunities are there in your industry for small businesses and entrepreneurs?

Every large company in any industry once began as a small business with an entrepreneur leading the way. The same goes for the pharmaceutical industry. Pfizer, for example, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the industry, became the company it is today with the leadership and entrepreneurship of two cousins, Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart. The two young German entrepreneurs started out with $2,500 of borrowed money, and opened the fine-chemicals business Charles Pfizer & Company in Brooklyn, New York. After decades of improvement and expansion, Pfizer Incorporated is now at the top of its industry according to many major financial analysts such as Standard & Poor’s and the analysts at Thomas One.

This answers the question as to what opportunities there are in the pharmaceutical industry for small businesses and entrepreneurs – every opportunity. The dictionary definition of an entrepreneur is “a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.” Every company in the industry is always taking entrepreneurial measures in that they’re always practicing research and development  and coming out with new products and advances. This, of course, is a great financial risk, demonstrating the entrepreneurial aspect of these processes. As we’ve found in our research on the pharmaceutical industry, there are also many impending expiring patents, especially for large companies such as Pfizer. This gives both large and small business the opportunity to make their move in the industry in creating and putting forth new products and innovations in an entrepreneurial sense.

So while when we think of entrepreneurs, we most commonly imagine a young businessman going door to door trying to sell his new product or idea, entrepreneurship is seen in so many more forms than that, and occurs at every stage in every company and industry. Everyone’s an entrepreneur.

References: 

http://www.pfizer.com/about/history/1849_1899.jsp

http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2009/12/03/1225806/765294-door-to-door-salesmen.jpg

Blog # 5

Entrepreneurship and 

R & D

The pharmaceutical industry is definitely not a friendly place for entrepreneurs. This occurs because the top players basically run the whole industry and leave little or no room at all for young, bright, new players to participate in the big game. So, how has this affected the industry? Is it having a positive or negative effect on the industry?

According to David Shaywitz from Forbes, this decline in entrepreneurship has had a negative effect. more specifically on Research and Development. It is important to remember that R&D is one of they drivers that can lead to huge potential growth. The patent cliff is forcing companies to find new medicines ir order to produce new patents, but the FDA and other regulatory organizations are definitely making it more difficult for companies to come up with new solutions. In other words, companies need the drive and the investment in research and development in order to not be affected by the current market. And, as Shaywitz tells us in his article, the fact that pharma companies are run by executives, not Doctors, Scientists, or entrepreneurs is preventing this from happening.

Executives do not share the same drive and excitement that smaller companies have towards new discoveries. This is why many, many experts agree that the pharmaceutical industry will need to leave room for smaller players to come into play; they need their ideas, their discoveries in order to come back to life after such a dramatic drop in sales after many patents expired. But, how will this happen if smaller players hold absolutely no chance in surviving surrounded by giants? David explains that the future of the industry will become one of major mergers and acquisitions. This means that Big players will need to step aside to give room to the younger, brighter, more innovative minds, in order to then buy them out. This will allow bigger companies to pursue their goal of benefitting from R&D while smaller companies will have room to grow.

All in all, the road entrepreneurship is definitely not clearly paved yet in the pharmaceutical industry. But, bigger companies will eventually have to surrender and give them space to grow; that is if they want to come back after the patent cliff.

Sources: http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidshaywitz/2011/10/23/does-big-pharma-need-entrepreneurial-leadership/

Blog #4 - Current Events

Parth Patel
Business 1.0
April 1st 2013

Blog #4: Accounting

·         What are some current events in your industry? What is the impact of these events on the industry?

There are always many events happening in the pharmaceutical industry.  New drugs are always being researched, getting grants, and entering the public. Old drugs are being tested over and over to make sure they are staying true to rules and regulations, and some drugs are going back to trials to fix  problems and issues.

Here are a few current events:

Halt Medical has secured FDA clearance for its Acessa system, which uses radiofrequency ablation to help treat uterine fibroids in women. The device, which already has been cleared in Canada and Europe, is designed to provide a less invasive and cheaper alternative to conventional fibroid surgery. 

More related to our specific firms, Pfizer, Portola, and Bristol-Myers Squibb have signed a clinical collaboration agreement to study the drug, Eliquis.  The collaboration will happen during the clinical study, which begun in January. Major bleeding events occur infrequently in patients taking Factor Xa inhibitors and standard measures are taken to control these events. Development of an agent specifically designed to reverse the activity of Factor Xa inhibitors may provide an antidote for patients who, in rare instances, have an uncontrolled major bleeding event or require emergency surgery.

These are just a few of the events happening in our particular industry.  There hundreds of articles, journals, etc. being published about new things occurring in the Pharma world.  All these events impact our industry in both a good and bad way.  Sometimes, it is good that old drugs are going back into the lab to fix bugs, and there is always need for new drugs to come out.  Cures for any sickness is always beneficial.

References:

http://www.worldpharmanews.com/bms/2259-portola-bristol-myers-squibb-and-pfizer-sign-clinical-collaboration-agreement-to-study-eliquisr-and-portolas-universal-factor-xa-inhibitor-antidote-prt4445

http://www.worldpharmanews.com/development/2263-scientists-test-5000-combinations-of-100-existing-cancer-drugs-to-find-more-effective-treatments