Rise and shine, everyone. Another busy day is on the way. So please join us as we brew our second delicious cup of early-morning stimulation - our flavor today is Southern Pecan - and get set to attack a long list of to-do items. So many things to read. So many notes to send. We know you can relate. To help you along, here are some tidbits. Hope you have a great day and stay in touch...
China Prepares For A Big Entry Into The Vaccine Market (Associated Press)
Allergan Sued By Surgeon Over Botox Vials (Los Angeles Times)
UK's NICE Rejects Lucentis For Diabetic Macular Edema (Bloomberg News)
After Lipitor, Pfizer Hopes To Focus On Mini-Blockbusters (Bloomberg News)
Swiss Drugmaker Tells Nebraska To Return Lethal Injection Drug (Washington Post)
Sanofi Told To Pay Tax On Shantha Deal (Economic Times)
Glaxo Scientists Maneuver Through R&D Overhaul (Bloomberg News)
Novo Nordisk Staffs Up In Latin America (Dow Jones)
Watson Plans To Make Generic Yaz Contraceptive Pill (Star-Ledger of New Jersey)
EDITOR'S NOTE: Please check this post for updates throughout the morning
2 Comments
The GLAXO piece describes an interesting change in approach. (Almost as good as what Ed would write.) Try this snippet:
...The old Glaxo “was arrogant,” says Robin Carr, who heads a DPU looking at ways to treat lung damage. “It had the biggest machine and the biggest hammer and it (thought it) could just grind out success.”
Good point, Observer. Although the revised Glaxo R&D structure rewards success, it does not punish failure. It should be structured in a more Darwinian fashion, as exists in academia. If you're an assistant professor on a tenure-track pathway in a university, either you bring the grant money into the institution, or in 4-5 years you'll be asked to look for a job elsewhere.
Industry ddepartment heads are like tenured professors. They have a lifetime job, and have been drwaing good pay for 30 years based on a drug they got approved in the 1970's. They are mentally sclerotic, have built large empires, command vast expanses of turfdom like Edward Longshanks, and command an undue level of respect. These folks will become bit players in the new Glaxo model, but they will still hang around, occupying the offices with the largest number of ceiling tiles, since that was the old reward system, now a relic of the Golden Age of the Pharmaceutical Industry.