Editor's Note - July 2009

By Dan Schell, Chief Editor, Clinical Leader

Healthcare reform. A new FDA commissioner. Job cuts. A tanking economy. These are the common topics that come up when I speak with life science executives.

This month in Life Science Leader we are trying to avoid reiterating the doom and gloom of these issues and instead offer you some ways to “stay ahead of the curve” and be prepared for when the good times return. Sure, in our interview with AstraZeneca CEO David Brennan (page 8) he discusses some of those aforementioned topics, but he also gives some insight into his company — and himself — that I don’t think you’ll read anywhere else. Likewise, by reading about the results of our survey of pharma/bio site-selection drivers (page 26), you’ll be privy to exclusive information about some of the most common incentives offered to companies like yours when (not if) you decide to grow again or relocate.

Furthermore, since cost-cutting has become a constant in the lives of life science executives, we’ve also included a few articles that discuss different methods for not only saving money, but running your business more efficiently. The articles on SharePoint (page 30), laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) (page 34), and centralized patient recruitment (page 38) are all good examples.

Finally, to keep providing you with valuable content each month, we’re constantly building our website (LifeScienceLeader.com), which already has categorized, daily news and resource centers. We’re also adding more Web-exclusive content. For example, you can now view video interviews from recent trade shows and read a speech David Brennan gave at an event with Senator Max Baucus on May 7, 2009 regarding healthcare reform.

We can’t avoid hearing about the negative effects of the current economy, but we can control how we react to these current conditions and plan for the future. Hopefully, Life Science Leader can help you with that.