Big Pharma: restructuring is necessary for survival
Large pharmaceutical companies should radically change their approach to research and development and decisively reduce their marketing activity in order to survive, says Jean-Pierre Garnier, chief executive officer of GlaxoSmithKline.
In the article “Rebuilding the R&D Engine in Big Pharma” published in the May issue of Harvard Business Review, Jean-Pierre Garnier, who will leave his position this month due to retirement, defends large pharmaceutical groups of companies like GlaxoSmithKline and refutes the theory that more dynamic new enterprises, particularly from the biotech sector, will survive "huge clumsy industry dinosaurs." However, for the successful development of new drugs, it is necessary to discard bureaucracy and promote the best scientists, since "a critical mass in fundamental research is created in a volume equal to one human brain," says J.-P. Garnier.
He called for the separation of the two parts of the drug discovery process: the discovery of ultra-risky "first-in-class" revolutionary medicines and the creation of "best-in-class" such as Lipitor/Liprimar (atorvastatin) of Pfizer. "By intertwining these processes, ... we require R&D to act as a ballet dancer and a football player at the same time," the author of the article writes. "We need to end low productivity in both directions."
The research of the "first-in-class" drug requires the highest qualification in the field of experimental biology and constant cooperation with academic scientists for many years. The development of "best-in-class" drugs needs to be maintained at a high pace, and pharmacologists are conducting it together with the involvement of patent specialists.
J.P. Garnier also called on companies to abandon the traditional model of "instant blockbusters", when drugs are registered for use in a very wide population of patients and then receive a lot of unforeseen side effects. In his opinion, the model of "gradual blockbusters" is more justified, when new indications are registered as clinical trials are conducted in patients with similar genetic or therapeutic profiles.
J.-P. Garnier, who headed the executive management of the company since the merger of SmithKline Beecham and Glaxo Wellcome in 2001, warned manufacturers against the "marketing arms race", which has already led to the fact that marketing budgets are almost twice the cost of R&D.
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13.05.2008