Pharmaceutical Executive-04-01-2004

Nektar?the drug delivery firm formerly know as Inhale?has been around for 14 years, but its pace during the last few has been dizzying. In 2001, the company made two major acquisitions that not only expanded its technology base from inhaled therapeutics to a broad range of exciting new technologies, but also gave it revenue from five products on the US market that use its technology and lined-up another four in Phase III. In 2002, Nektar brokered 11 collaborative partnerships, and in 2003, it generated $106 million in sales.

More than one-third of the dollar value of all US healthcare assistance to the developing world is donated by pharmaceutical companies to humanitarian agencies. That is the finding of a 2003 survey conducted by the Center for Pharmaceutical Health Services Research at the Temple University School of Pharmacy and sponsored by the Partnership for Quality Medical Donations (PQMD), an alliance of nine drug companies and a dozen humanitarian agencies. (See "About PQMD.") The survey, conducted annually since PQMD's inception in 1999, helps members quantify the value of their donation efforts and assists groups who wish to benchmark their work against that of other organizations.