Pharmaceutical Executive-02-01-2002

Who, or what, creates wealth? Answering that question has become as much political football as economic theory. Last month, the US president reminded us that government does not make wealth but, at best, fosters a climate conducive to it. The old-left idea that workers create and should share equally in the fruits of production has long since died of exhaustion. By process of elimination, the only apparent answer remaining belongs to idealistic capitalists, who herald the enterprising companies from which all wealth "obviously" flows-for most of us, as paychecks.

It's time for the big project. Top management in a leading pharma company wants executive A, a rising star in the marketing department, to evaluate a new technology's impact on the industry-and on his company. The technology has the potential to dramatically affect not only pharmaceutical discovery and development but also marketing and sales. But there are many factors to analyze, and no one in his company has the expertise to do it.

Pfizer's formidable front entrance in the heart of midtown Manhattan hums like no other in the industry. Compared with most pharma company headquarters, this is a train station.

Competition for physicians' time has become so intense that some medical groups have severely restricted or banned reps altogether. Part of that strained relationship can be traced back to some of the sales techniques used by aggressive pharma salespeople. Physicians have become wary of being "sold" and often do not trust the information reps provide. Many doctors no longer feel that sales reps help provide better care for patients. Rather, physicians often come away feeling as though they just had an encounter with a used car dealer. To improve their relationships with medical professionals, pharma sales reps should avoid ten

Geneva-The pharma industry has given a guarded welcome to a World Health Organization report that explicitly links poverty and poor health.

Healthcare costs and health insurance premiums have soared, and analysts point to double-digit hikes in spending on prescription medicines as a prime culprit. A recent annual survey by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finds that healthcare spending in 2000 increased 7 percent to $1.3 trillion, the biggest increase in the past decade, outpacing gross domestic product growth. Prescription drug expenditures alone jumped 17 percent, making them the fastest growing service expense for that year. The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) also reports that the portion of total healthcare spending devoted to

Washington, DC-A new advisory committee appointed by HHS secretary Tommy Thompson will scrutinize agency policies to identify ways to improve programs and regulations.

In a tight market, pharma companies are asking themselves: "How can we get more from scarce resources?" As a result, R&D and sales/marketing expenditures are under increased scrutiny-and they should be. Both areas consume significant resources (about 25 percent of revenues combined) have experienced rapid growth, and their results have been difficult to quantify. But to make the most of both human and non-human assets, management must first understand how those assets are currently allocated, how to make them more productive, and if there are better ways to deploy them. That substantial task will be further exacerbated as the industry