One-On-One With Fred Hassan, One Of Many Highlights At The R&D Leadership Summit

By Rob Wright, Chief Editor, Life Science Leader
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By Rob Wright

Last week I attended The Conference Forum’s R&D Leadership Summit in Miami. Dan Perlman, founder of RPS (ReSearch Pharmaceutical Services) and the program sponsor, informed the attendees that the goal of this conference was to serve as a “think tank” for R&D leaders in the pharmaceutical and biopharm industries. I must say, the conference did not disappoint. Because there were no vendors participating in the conference, industry leaders were very candid in their discussions regarding the challenges faced by the industry. But before I tell you about that, let me tell you what it is like to have a one-on-one conversation with Fred Hassan, chairman for Bausch and Lomb.

After Fred conducted his presentation, I had the opportunity to speak with him personally and it was anything but “vanilla”. You see, both Fred and I were employed by Schering-Plough (SP) prior to the merger with Merck. He at the highest level and me, well, not quite so high. I was a member of Organon Biosciences, which was purchased by SP. We discussed this acquisition, as well as the merger with Merck. I told him I was let go during the latter. He said he had heard about the layoff and began asking me questions about the process. He asked me if I knew why the decision was made to cut so many of the SP women’s healthcare sales team. I informed him that it appeared to be a result of Merck believing that the sales growth opportunity lied with Gardasil, a Merck product, and not Nuva Ring and Implanon, which were SP products. As a result, all of the Gardasil sales representatives were retained. Imagine my surprise to see him shake his head and comment to me, very candidly, that he sees this happen all the time. The acquiring company thinks its products and people are superior to the ones being acquired. If that is the case then why are you acquiring the company? His final words were, “I think that could have been handled better.” I agree the process of who to keep and why during a major merger can always be improved. Personally, I thought the layoff from an execution stand point, was handled very well. Parting employees were treated with dignity and respect. Merck provided former employees with resources for the job search process, which I fully utilized. Here are some other takeaways from the conference.

Did you know that R&D spending on drugs has been rising about 12% annually and now exceeds $60 billion? Yet, this increase in spending is not producing any appreciable results. In addition, some of the increases are a result of, as one attended described it, the FDA’s political agenda to provide the public with the perception that they are only approving safe drugs. Several conference members expressed exasperation in dealing with the FDA and the advisory committees in getting a drug approved. Most agreed that the FDA is in need of serious reform to get the drug approval process back to an objective review, looking at the science behind the medicine. There appeared to be a consensus among attendees that the drug approval process has become overly subjective. Several suggestions were provided on how to reform and improve the drug approval process.

Focus quickly turned to opportunities to improving R&D and reducing costs within the industry. Three presentations shook things up at the meeting. Bernard Munos, formerly with Eli Lilly, pointed out that the current means by which drug discovery takes place is ineffective. In order to make a difference and improve drug discovery, Munos believes companies need to look at the process by which innovation truly takes place. He cited a number of organizations that are very successful at innovation outside of the industry and how they operate on a “shoestring” budget. Innovation requires disruptive thinking, high-risk, and unconventional research. Tony Tramontin of McKinsey & Company provided a practical approach to increasing productivity in the lab, suggesting there are five best practice behaviors of productive labs: (1) clear strategy and role; (2) talented teams; (3) effective project and portfolio management; (4) effective problem solving approach; and (5) environment that promotes collaboration. Ken Getz of Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development reported the best practices of the fastest companies in the areas of drug discovery share the following:

• They proactively interact with regulatory agencies.
• They prioritize resources.
• They more actively and more widely apply and utilize strategies and technology solutions.

I found the conference to be very worthwhile with actionable information provided by the presenters. What a refreshing approach.