If you have an idea for a life sciences product geared toward meeting an unmet medical need, you have probably given a lot of thought as to what makes it special, as well as why insurance companies should be willing to pay for it. But no matter how differentiated or breakthrough your innovation might be, if you haven’t considered how to finance your vision, it likely won’t ever see the light of day.

Biopharma leaders need to weigh carefully the short-term gains versus long-term impact on a company’s overall reputation that price hikes can have when placed under the powerful lens of the social media microscope.

William H. Carson, M.D., president and CEO for Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc., explains the reasons behind the company’s newest endeavors.

My colleague, Ed Miseta, chief editor of Clinical Leader, recently asked, “Can Better Patient Experiences Lead To Better Medicines?” via an article he developed from an interview with Thomas Goetz, cofounder of Iodine, a digital health company. According to Miseta, Goetz is attempting to turn patient experiences into better medicines and is combining data and design to help patients locate the best treatments based on preferences, demographics, and experiences. But truthfully it wasn’t Goetz’s work that intrigued me (but still worth your reading about), but rather Miseta’s question.

Top GSK executives such as Luc Debruyne, president of GSK Vaccines (pictured), talk about the company’s vaccine and oncology aspirations.

Ever heard of the company Galvani Bioelectronics? The name probably sounds familiar because the company was recently the subject of nearly every news media outlet, including the Wall Street Journal.

When conducting interviews my natural curiosity can result in a surplus of interesting content that often doesn’t fit with the overall theme of the final published article. When situations like these happen, I often proactively create articles for an online section called — From The Cutting Room Floor. One of my favorite examples of a cutting room floor article being able to provide valuable insight came from an interview with George Golumbeski, Ph.D., SVP of business development at Celgene. During the conversation I asked how a formally trained scientist moved into the area of business development. While his response of it being “one of the best business decisions he ever made” was fascinating, it wasn’t a fit with the overall M&A theme of the July 2015 cover story — even as a sidebar.

As I sat down to write this blog, I was struck by the idea of why certain things become popular or gain legitimacy. Malcolm Gladwell describes the magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold and begins to spread like wildfire in his book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Still, it seems rare to witness such an event actually taking place and even more difficult to predict these “moments.” For example, most of us probably never envisioned the 2014 A.L.S. ice bucket charity challenge becoming such a meteoric sensation. But while recently watching the Olympics, I think I did notice something that I anticipate will be the next big health craze — cupping.

New Celgene CEO Mark Alles talks about the daunting task of taking over at this biopharma behemoth and explains the company’s concept of a “leadership incubator.”