By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Research and Development in Pharma: 4 Lessons in Change
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Research and Development in Pharma: 4 Lessons in Change
Business

Research and Development in Pharma: 4 Lessons in Change

dorothywetzel
dorothywetzel
Share
6 Min Read
research and development in Pharma
SHARE

This is the eleventh blog post in a twelve part series that transforms ideas from the marketing world at large into practical plans for pharmaceutical marketing in the time of health care reform.

research and development in PharmaChange in Pharma is possible.

This is the eleventh blog post in a twelve part series that transforms ideas from the marketing world at large into practical plans for pharmaceutical marketing in the time of health care reform.

research and development in PharmaChange in Pharma is possible.

More Read

pharmacist
Pharmacy Board Needs Non-Pharmacist Majority
Does the Doctor-Patient Relationship Need Marriage Counseling?
FDA Should Consider Costs in Some Decisions
Navigating The Changing Landscape Of The Medical Marijuana Industry
How High-Deductible Insurance Fuels Momentous Healthcare Shifts

To become a believer, you only need to explore what is happening in R&D organizations across the country. After the lost decade of drug development where too much money was chasing too few good opportunities, big pharma R&D has shaken up drug development. Gone are the large evergreen budgets. Gone is the stovepipe R&D organization that operated independently of any commercial considerations.

In May of this year, I attended Convergence East, the Life Sciences Leaders Forum held on in Cape Cod, Massachusetts where, extrovertic, was a sponsor. A good portion of the attendees were from the big pharma R&D organizations, including Astra Zeneca, J&J, Millenium and Sanofi to name a few.

Big pharma R&D is using four key strategies to bolster their R&D productivity:

  1. Looking outside for solutions: No more navel gazing for pharma R&D. When asked about what percentage of their drug development efforts were external versus internal, the answer ranged from 30-50%.  To paraphrase a representative from Shire R&D, “the NIH mentality is not going to cut it anymore, too much money and personnel.”
    • This external focus also involves importing leadership that infuses a more entrepreneurial spirit into their organization. For example, Sanofi has hired  biotech executives like Katherine Bowdish, Vice President, R&D on board. Prior to Sanofi, Ms. Bowdish worked at companies like Permeaon Biologics and Alexion Pharmaceuticals, successful biotech companies.
  2. Convening diverse perspectives. J&J has set up four innovation centers around the world designed to create relationships in integrated communities of academics, research institutions, early stage biotechs, venture capital and entrepreneurs. The remit of these innovation centers spans J&J’s three business units: pharmaceutical, consumer and devices. The goal is for J&J to become the partner of choice when there is an opportunity to be commercialized.
  3. Investing further upstream: Sanofi is investing in early stage high-risk opportunities that can use Sanofi assets in the process. One of Sanofi’s earliest success stories their partnership with a prominent Harvard professor, Dr. Gregory Verdine, to create Warpdrive bio. Warpdrivebio has a proprietary “genomic search engine” to identify “powerful drugs that are now hidden within microbes.”
  4. Customer focused development: Drug development is no longer a purely academic exercise. For example, to better focus its R&D investments, Cubist takes their scientists into operating rooms with their surgeon customers. Deborah Dunsire, CEO Millennium, spoke about innovation as beginning with the patient; about reverse engineering what is wrong with the patient, focusing on the patient’s unmet medical need and determining what solution would make the biggest impact on the patient’s life?

The same laser focus on innovation must make its way to the commercial side of the business. Change in the commercial model needs to occur everywhere—from reorienting the rabid focus on the physician at the expense of payer and patient marketing to creating new definitions of a pharmaceutical “product” offering. Think about patient marketing, do we really need more branded commercials running on the evening news?

The core idea to extrapolate from these R&D reorganizations is to turn to outside institutions, experts and customers to provide a fresh perspective on your business challenges So here are a few thought starters about how to export these R&D strategies and pump more innovation into the commercial model.

  1. Start from the patient. What are the upcoming changes in how patients consume media, search for healthcare information, pay for healthcare and use healthcare products and services? Once you have a “vision of the future state,” you can start to think about potential solutions.
  2. Gather a group of innovative thinkers from outside of Pharma and let them take a whack at some of your biggest issues. Convening thinkers from various disciplines is a time honored innovation strategy. In fact, I have been invited to participate in an effort to develop new approaches for eradicating polio by a multinational non-profit health organization. This organization is bringing together a group of thinkers from a variety of disciplines and industries to provide a fresh perspective on an intractable health care problem.  
  3. Create a portfolio of early opportunities. Allocate a portion of the annual budget to new and evolving technologies. Traditionally, pharma innovation centers tend to have little budget and authority. This has got to stop. Top management has to be actively involved with the change agenda. I have seen too many smart marketers spin their wheels in these innovation centers. Without top management active involvement, innovation just doesn’t happen.

(R & D in pharma / shutterstock)

TAGGED:pharmaR&D
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

a woman walking on the hallway
6 Easy Healthcare Ways to Sit Less and Move More Every Day
Health
September 9, 2025
Clinical Expertise
Healthcare at a Crossroads: Why Leadership Matters More Than Ever
Global Healthcare
September 9, 2025
travel nurse in north carolina
Balancing Speed and Scope: Choosing the Nursing Degree That Fits Your Goals
Nursing
September 1, 2025
intimacy
How to Keep Intimacy Comfortable as You Age
Relationship and Lifestyle Senior Care
September 1, 2025

You Might also Like

Clinical Trial Recruitment
BusinesseHealthSocial Media

Steps for Attracting Patient Participants in Clinical Trials

December 14, 2014

Despite Botched ObamaCare Rollout, Public Still Trusts Democrats on Healthcare

December 18, 2013

HIT Employment Models: 1099, W2 Hourly or Salaried, Which Is Right For You?

June 16, 2012

Medical Tourism Initiative Enables Nigerian Hospital to Deliver Quality Medical Care

December 17, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?