Patrick Clinton

More consolidation didn't boost sales at the top, but a handful of nimble newcomers posted impressive growth on the other end of the curve.

In the long run, pharma wants to sell health, not just drugs.

FDA slaps down Cheerios and forces pharma companies that use Google to make technical changes no consumer will ever notice. Big whoop.

Our 3-D cover jumps off the page. But the real question for us (and for you) is how do we get everything else to connect?

Unsolicited advice for FDA's next leader: Keep it real, fight popular delusions, and somehow, please, defend the agency.

The worst thing about working for most corporations is the inevitable downward pull they exert even on the best of us. That's why it's always sad to lose a company that learned to fight back.

No one who cares about global health can be happy with a system that only "eventually" delivers drugs and vaccines for the planet's neediest people

It's just the way life works: You're always crossing the bridge before you get to it-or after it's gone

Two years ago, an internal Merck survey revealed that its basic research operation was "every flavor of what you don't want." Today the company is in the midst of implementing a new strategy that groups scientists at sites dedicated to particular clinical areas. VP Kathleen Metters explains why - and how.

Maybe what you're feeling isn't impending doom. Maybe it's just growing pains.

Is FDA's MO in foreign inspections too broken to fix?

A vision of pharma's next business model is starting to emerge. But how do we get from here to there?

The United States makes the best medicines in the world. In days to come, that could be a problem.

FDA preemption is a hot issue for pharma, and it's likely to get hotter. But it's the wrong issue.

There's a cure for everything, as long as the patient is a mouse

It's not that I disagree with the Obama and McCain healthcare proposals. It's that there's nothing actually there to disagree with

The great debate on DTC advertising is heating up again. We're going to be hearing a lot about fair balance and risk communication and costs. But what about the patients?

An industry legend weighs in on leadership, research, and sales models. Q&A with outgoing Wyeth Chairman Bob Essner

The real question in the Baxter heparin scandal is not who's guilty but whether pharma can get reliable results from a country in chaos

The real question in the Baxter heparin scandal is not who's guilty but whether pharma can get reliable results from a country in chaos

For pharma to function, it needs a whole network that commands trust. The only alternative is the sort of regulation by mass tort that we've been sliding into in recent years

New from Pharm Exec: a blog, expanded tech and deals coverage, and a new awards program for emerging pharma leaders

A new report says FDA is desperately behind on science. At last, a critique we can actually do something about. But will we?

For several decades, pharma got the message that promotion could make consumers want to use new drugs. The system didn't work with Pfizer's Exubera. That's surprising news, but is it bad news?

A hospital safety expert says it's now possible to completely eliminate certain adverse events. Pharma can't claim the same yet, but is it time for us to start imagining a time when we can "benchmark perfection"?

FDA has just premiered a new newsletter on drug safety. There's just one little problem....

In this issue, a longtime contributor to this magazine, former FDA official, and generally thoughtful, knowledgeable person concludes his excellent three-part series on drug safety with a look at how risk is communicated to patients and doctors. It's a fine, detailed, subtle piece of work, and I recommend it to you. (See "Failure to Communicate".)

The Acomplia story isn't ending. It's just beginning. Get ready to see what happens when a much-desired drug is marketed by people accountable to no one.

It's not FDA's job to make doctors and patients take more responsibility for using drugs wisely. But whose job is it? Really, whose?