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Business
is realised or not. In either case it is critical for (HTS). From these examples, the lessons learned,
executives to understand the return on their tech- best practices and barriers to success will be
nology investment and the impact of those invest- described. The three examples represent three
ments on their discovery pipelines. stages needed to introduce and establish technolo-
In 2004, this author
1
explored how portfolio gies. The first stage involves gaining a foothold
management tools could be used in the drug dis- and introducing new technologies. Stage two
covery space. At Wyeth, this included bringing involves aligning the Technology Portfolio, and
transparency to the discovery portfolio. He postu- stage three involves maintaining alignment and
lated that transparency and the use of metrics was having an impact.
essential to fostering and taking advantage of inno-
vation. These approaches contributed to an Stage 1: Gaining a foothold and
increase in production and helped to manage the introducing new technologies
risk inherent in a drug discovery portfolio. The The Systems Biology Group was established at
paper goes on to describe how portfolio manage- Wyeth in April 2008. This group’s role is to help
ment tools were built and implemented at Wyeth, stakeholders expand and support their Portfolios
as a way to optimise the use of budgets and by identifying new targets and biomarkers through
resources. Finally, the use of PPM tools in decision leveraging the power of multiple technologies in a
making and prioritisation was discussed. The single, integrated unit. Advances in technology,
important concept of the need to balance, control automation, software and computing have enabled
and governance systems needed to manage the this field to continue to evolve
2,3
. It is important to
business while not stifling innovation and creativi- note that the role this group plays is auxiliary,
ty was also described. This paper aims to describe meaning that utilisation of this resource is not
the application of these tools to the problem of required for the drug discovery at Wyeth, making
managing technology portfolios. it important to develop and maintain customer
The approach taken to Discovery Technology relationships. Generally, scientists that would like
Portfolio Management (DTPM) at Wyeth involved to explore new biology not found in the literature
the following objectives: may choose to pursue Systems Biology projects.
Transparency is the key to managing the relation-
a71 Dedicated resource providing a sound unifying ship between the stakeholders and the Technology
structure, (standardised nomenclature, databases, Group. Timelines and milestones will depend on
resource prioritisation tools, budget control, gov- knowledge of expertise from both perspectives. A
ernance, etc). productive, collaborative relationship will evolve
a71 Devise tools for determination of the impact of when both teams play a role in this partnership as
the technology on the success of the R&D process both are stakeholders in project success.
(metrics). When new technologies are launched into an
a71 Provide tools and data for optimisation of organisation, many challenges lie ahead. The
resources and prioritisation across all R&D areas – newly established group will need to advertise
critical for technology groups that support multi- within the organisation to solicit projects that are
ple therapeutic areas. in alignment with the Portfolio. Projects will need
a71 Provide data for review of suitability on a peri- to be designed to leverage technologies that have
odic basis. been established and validated first, while defer-
a71 Provide an outside perspective for communica- ring projects that involve technologies that have
tion and analysis of the processes and deliverables not yet come on-line. As projects advance,
of the managed group. progress should be communicated to key stake-
holders. Finally, when projects complete, a critical
This paper will describe how these five objec- element to success is to demonstrate that the proj-
tives were achieved at Wyeth and how they were ect has added impact and value to the organisa-
applied. Also, this paper will look at the above tion. Portfolio Management can provide the trans-
angles with respect to three examples of technolo- parency and high-level view needed to 1) help
gies with the capability of changing the way phar- stakeholders understand which technologies are
maceutical companies discover and develop new validated and ready to be utilised; 2) implement a
drugs: a newly introduced capability (Systems process to ensure that vetted and aligned projects
Biology), an establishing but still new capability move forward; 3) develop tools to communicate
(Translational Medicine) and a well-established and capture impact; and 4) ensure that the
and organisationally mature technology platform Portfolio is balanced.
10 Drug Discovery World Winter 2009/10
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