[Ip-health] 2 articles on big pharma & innovation

[Benjamin Krohmal]

In The Economist:

BILLION DOLLAR PILLS
Jan 25th 2007 | New York
An overhaul at Pfizer, the biggest and most conservative of drugs
firms, shows what ails the industry
http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=3D8585891

excerpt:
The drugs industry. . . could count on earning fat margins on not
just new drugs but also =93me too=94 treatments that were only marginally
better than existing therapies. Then governments in Europe, Japan and
Canada began demanding big discounts. For a while the industry has
found comfort in free-market America, where most big drugs firms earn
half or more of their profits. But America's willingness to pay over
the odds for new treatments could be coming to an end. . .  Activists
have long criticised the industry's defence of patents and
unrestricted pricing, decrying huge marketing budgets as wasteful
(and, they allege, intended to corrupt doctors). . . But drugs
companies will have to do more than tweak their sales methods. Eric
Park, of Ziba, a design consultancy, reckons companies must also
think about drug delivery systems and patient-friendly packaging,
which could create a new kind of branded intellectual property that
might be more defensible than drug patents.

In The Scientist:

WHY PHARMA MUST GO HOLLYWOOD
Feb. 2007
The answer to stagnating R&D can be found in the creativity of the
movie industry.
By Liam Bernal ("*The author of this piece is a current
pharmaceutical R&D executive who has chosen to write under a
pseudonym.")
http://www.the-scientist.com/2007/2/1/42/1/

excerpt:
Pharma's productivity woes are a consequence of two distinct factors.
One, which is difficult to change, is the dearth of "low-hanging
fruit" now that easy pharmacologic targets have been exploited. The
other, more malleable factor is the current managerial structures in
pharma that not only do not foster creativity and innovation but also
tend to extinguish it. . .  The Hollywood business model is more
evolved than the model currently followed across pharma. Until the
1950s Hollywood studios employed everyone, from actors, writers, and
directors to producers and marketers. Then the "talent" - actors,
writers, and directors - realized that their expertise was
undervalued, and their personal interests were much better served if
they functioned autonomously. Hollywood studios are now mainly
responsible only for financing and marketing movies. The creativity
resides outside the studios, with independent producers, such as the
Weinstein brothers at Miramax.

Benjamin Krohmal
Coordinator - Project on Medical Innovation
Consumer Project on Technology
Tel: +1-202-332-2670 ex. 14
Fax: +1-202-332-2673
ben.krohmal@cptech.org