Introduction
Restructuring is the name
of the game in 2008
In the current economic climate, has anyone considered the repercussions of a major
pharmaceutical company, generics f_i rm or wholesaler collapsing, asks John Davis
particular therapeutic areas. Dainippon
W
ith most branded medicines being
marketed by a relatively small Sumitomo has entered a research alliance
number of innovative companies, with Osaka University to discover new
and the majority of everyday drugs coming therapies for schizophrenia and depression.
from a handful of multinational generics firms, The idea is that these collaborations are not
is it reasonable to be worried about a failure technology transfer or licensing arrangements
in the pharmaceuticals sector? – they are a much more integral part of a
There is no evidence of such problems company’s research.
among major companies, and to raise the Another way to transform a company’s
possibility of this happening could be seen as R&D is to outsource major functions. Lilly,
unnecessary scaremongering. After all, the for example, has entered into a laboratory
pharmaceutical industry is, hopefully, fully services contract with Covance in a
aware of its societal responsibilities. $1.6 billion deal. Other functions are being
But among smaller companies and the outsourced too. Amgen has forged a
biotech sector, financial survival is a very real $500 million, five-year deal with IBM for the
concern. Early in 2008, numerous biotech supply of information systems infrastructure,
firms started cutting back on their headcounts. electronic messaging, helpdesk support and
Nitromed, Pharmexa, Vernalis, Vaxgen, server hosting.
Neurogen and Kosan Biosciences were just a
few of the many companies announcing such redundancies
moves. Costs are being reduced across the board in
Perhaps the most surprising
For big pharma, the main concerns major pharmaceutical companies, with sales
continue to be the declining numbers of new forces being a prime target. During the past
outcome of this current round
products coming through the R&D pipeline, 12 months, Wyeth, Schering-Plough and
of change is that a company’s longer and more stringent regulatory Merck & Co have all said they will cut more
own R&D function is no longer
processes, low revenue growth due to than 1,000 sales jobs. Other companies
increasing competition and patent expiry, and announcing cutbacks included Lilly, UCB,
considered untouchable
greater pressure on pricing from healthcare Sanofi-Aventis, AstraZeneca and GSK.
providers and health technology assessment The range of research is also being
bodies. narrowed, even at the large companies like
These issues are discussed in depth in this Pfizer, where cardiovascular research has taken
year’s Scrip 100. As the publication shows, a back seat. Schering-Plough, like several
they are being addressed in a variety of ways, others, is to concentrate on oncology and
with “restructuring” being very much the Alzheimer’s disease research, while Novo
activity of the moment. Nordisk says it is exiting cancer. Antibacterial
Perhaps the most surprising outcome of R&D may be unfashionable in some quarters,
this current round of change is that a but Merck & Co and Orchid Chemicals and
company’s own R&D function is no longer Pharmaceuticals have entered into a
considered untouchable. Dainippon Sumitomo $100 million partnership to develop new
Pharma, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer, for bacterial and fungal infection agents.
example, have established deeper relationships
with academic centres, and may partly replace
M&A still hot
their own in-house research with a new
Are mergers and acquisitions now old hat?
model of company-academic co-operation.
You might not think so, looking at the activity
Pfizer has signed a $15 million partnership
in the marketplace over the past 12 months.
with the University of Pennsylvania, and GSK
Roche has offered $44 billion for the
has set up a collaboration with Harvard
remainder of Genentech that it does not own.
University, while also indicating that it wants to
Novartis is attempting to acquire Alcon in a
form smaller research units focused on
$38 billion two-step process. And Lilly has
www.scripnews.com/supplements Scrip 100
5
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128