In attending CPhI this week in Frankfurt, one theme that repeatedly emerged was the increasing importance of CROs, CDMOs, and CMOs to build more strategic, deeper, and collaborative relationships with pharmaceutical companies as a way to meet the evolving needs of the industry and as a a mutual tool in value creation. Read more »

Bribery and corruption are not supposed to happen, but of course they do happen and no industry is immune. In 2009, the World Health Organisation estimated that healthcare fraud and abuse can cost individual governments as much as $23 billion a year.

Fortunately, there are many rules and watchdog organisation keeping a close eye on businesses to make sure everything is honest and above board. In the UK, bribery rules have recently been strengthened by the long-awaited (or long-dreaded depending on how you look at it) Bribery Act 2010. Although it’s UK legislation, it has a long reach. It will impact any corporate entity that conducts business in the UK and applies to business interactions both inside and outside the UK. Read more »

Big Pharma’s sales forecast is not likely to improve anytime soon. Consulting firm Bain and Company predicts that the top 25 drug companies’ annual sales growth will be no more than 1% through 2016. To compensate for reduced revenue, investors are urging manufacturers to cut expenses that do not add value. One such expense, in many investors’ eyes, is research and development (R&D). Read more »

Outsourcing can have its benefits, but how often do we bother to measure the actual value of our outsourcing relationships? Or the innovation that it delivers? In Europe, at least, the answer is: not very often.

This week, Warwick Business School (UK) released a study (sponsored by Cognizant) looking at European C-suite attitudes to outsourcing. The study encompassed 250 CIOs and CFOs across Benelux, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Nordics and the UK. Read more »

I am here in Charlotte, North Carolina, this week for Informex 2011, the trade show of custom and batch manufacturers, which raises a fundamental question. What is the future for outsourcing of chemically synthesized active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and pharma intermediates? Read more »

At a press conference in the waning days of 2010, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) raised an alarm about what she called an “unprecedented” drug shortage. Citing a scarcity of treatments for chemotherapy, she called for greater collaboration between industry and FDA to ensure that Americans have access to the medicines they need. But shortages also can affect drugs that are used for purposes other than healing. Read more »

The confetti from the New Year’s celebrations has settled, and drugmakers are busy planning their activities for 2011. Some people make New Year’s resolutions in hopes of bettering themselves or adopting good habits. After its recent disappointments, the pharmaceutical industry likely will resolve to improve its research and development (R&D) efforts. Read more »

In January 2011, control of the US House of Representatives will shift to the Republican party. Reducing the federal deficit is one of the party’s top priorities, and Republican leaders have proposed to cut domestic spending as a means to accomplish this end. But should all programs be put on the chopping block? Read more »

These days, research scientists, much like Rodney Dangerfield, can’t get any respect. The latest evidence of this arrived on Friday, when AstraZeneca (London) proposed to cut 3500 research and development (R&D) jobs by 2014. Read more »

Last week we saw more signs that pharmaceutical megamegers bode ill for New Jersey workers. Business Week reported that Pfizer (New York) planned to close six research and development (R&D) facilities—some of its own, and some of Wyeth’s (Madison, NJ). Many of the 400 employees at Wyeth’s research offices in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, could be laid off. And last Wednesday, Richard Clark, CEO of Merck (Whitehouse Station, NJ), told attendees at a Goldman Sachs conference that research jobs at Schering-Plough’s (Kenilworth, NJ) headquarters could be eliminated to reduce costs. Read more »