In June, I had the opportunity to moderate a panel discussion at the Diversity & Clinical Trials Symposium in Chicago. Prior to introducing my distinguished panel, which included Karen Brooks, senior director with Pfizer, Dr. Vince Bufalino, SVP with Advocate Healthcare, and Dr. James Powell, principal investigator at Project IMPACT...

When I recently returned from one of my many business trips, I did the first thing I normally do — I checked my voicemail messages and began following up. One voicemail about a radio show really got my attention. Curious, I called and had an interesting conversation with Dale Jackson, a 30+ years Wall Street veteran. By Rob Wright

Novartis accelerated year-over-year in the emerging market of Sub-Saharan Africa by developing the Region Group Emerging Market (GEM).

In July I had the opportunity to attend the Bio-Process Systems Alliance (BPSA) International Single-Use Summit in Washington, D.C. Formed in 2005, BPSA is an industry-led corporate-member trade association dedicated to encouraging and accelerating the adoption of single-use manufacturing technologies used in the production of biopharmaceuticals and vaccines. In my opinion, BPSA has been successful at encouraging single-use adoption. By Rob Wright

Dirk Rodgers is a U.S. healthcare supply chain consultant, and co-chair of a number of key technical work groups including GS1, an international not-for-profit association responsible for developing the most widely used global supply chain standards. By Rob Wright

If you were charged with implementing a serialization program at a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility, what would be your bulleted approach to implementing, with timelines and specific recommendations for completion? This was a question posed to David Harty, a 20+ years IT solutions and software expert. Formerly with such well-known companies as VeriSign and Siemens, he is now the VP of Systech International (a packaging integration company). By Rob Wright

For pharmaceutical manufacturers holding out hope that California’s ePedigree law will be postponed, Virginia Herold, executive officer of the California State Board of Pharmacy, has stated that the 2015-to-2017 deadlines are firm and that there will be no further extensions. By Rob Wright

In February, Genentech, the maker of the best-selling cancer drug, Avastin, issued a warning to doctors and patients, noting that the counterfeit vials of the distributed product did not contain the key ingredient used to treat cancers of the colon, lung, kidney, and brain. By Rob Wright

Matthew Herper wrote an article about a tiny biotech preparing for its initial public offering by licensing a promising anti-cancer drug from Merck. According to Herper, the start-up is attempting to repeat the success its top executives had turning Big Pharma’s castoffs into hits at MGI Pharma — bought by Eisai for $3.9 billion in 2008. By Rob Wright