Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - January 28, 2009 - (Page 7) 2009 Forecast are optimistic about the new Obama administration, which will create “a very complex and exciting environment for pharma,” according to Carolyn BuckLuce. “There will be more net benefits than risks. Pressure over prices will be outweighed by the commitment to healthcare expansion,” she adds. Obama is a science booster, who has pledged to increase funding to the federal research establishment and restore its independence from the faithbased lobby. One of his first acts as president is expected to be the signing of an executive order lifting Bush’s ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. And what’s not to love about many more millions of newly-insured people filling new scrips? According to the Boston Consulting Group, healthcare reform’s enhanced safety net is likely to deliver an annual $17 billion in additional prescription drug sales. “Certain classes of drug are going to be taken up at enormous rates,” says The Amundsen Group’s Mason Tenaglia. However, for an industry that sees itself as fettered by regulation, Obama poses some real threats. Lower drug prices are widely viewed as inevitable, while price controls are not as unimaginable as they once were. On the campaign trail, Obama was frequently heard to say that he would “take on the drug and insurance companies and hold them accountable for the prices they charge and the harm they cause.” Yet the apparent centrism and pragmatism on display in his transition raise hopes that he will not walk that talk. “In the past Obama has given signals that he favours a balanced approach that also incentivises innovation,” says attorney Daniel Kracov at Arnold & Porter. “The hope is that his cooler head will filter down to every level of the new administration. But there are a lot of forces out there that could turn this into a frenzy against pharma.” Stepping up to 2009 Most Pharm Exec sources say that the industry must be far more proactive than in the past—willing to level with consumers and make concessions to Congress. “Industry needs to figure out the right way to present what the fair price for a drug is,” says Arthur Daemmrich. “It has to be in terms that are meaningful to consumers—showing the value of a drug in terms of a health outcome and what that’s worth.” Some insiders indicate that the industry is evolving—cautiously—a new, more cooperative strategy to meet demanding economic and political conditions. Says Shire’s Charlotte Silbey: “Our biggest problems with our customers are pricing and perception. The new administration’s commitment to healthcare reform is really an enormous opportunity for us to fix that. But we need the courage to step up to it.” Dealing with the healthcare reform juggernaut isn’t, of course, the only item on pharma’s 2009 to-do list. Every drugmaker also needs to step up its efforts to produce more (safer, better, cheaper) drugs more quickly and efficiently while getting smaller, going global, and keeping shareholders, customers, and Wall Street happy. “We have to be careful that we don’t end up like the auto industry in front of Congress asking for a bailout in exchange for restructuring,” says Wyeth’s VP of clinical R&D, Evan Loh. “The companies that will survive these times are the ones that ask, ‘Are we the best in the world at doing this?’ and if not, then stop doing it.” Says Boston Consulting Group’s Peter Lawyer: “I wouldn’t be surprised if companies look back in a few years and say 2009 was pretty good, in light of what’s probably ahead.” For the full version of this article, click here. 8 STRATEGY Industry life cycle: surviving the competitive stage 11 JACKY LAW Awaiting Pfizer’s next move? 13 CALENDAR Upcoming pharma industry events 2 NEWS Teva and Lonza join forces http://pharmexec.findpharma.com/pharmexec/Special Reports/Forecast-2009-%20Up-in-the-Air/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/574632
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - January 28, 2009 Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - January 28, 2009 Contents News From the Editor 2009 Forecast Strategy Jacky Law Calendar Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - January 28, 2009 Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - January 28, 2009 - Contents (Page 1) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - January 28, 2009 - News (Page 2) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - January 28, 2009 - From the Editor (Page 3) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - January 28, 2009 - From the Editor (Page 4) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - January 28, 2009 - 2009 Forecast (Page 5) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - January 28, 2009 - 2009 Forecast (Page 6) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - January 28, 2009 - 2009 Forecast (Page 7) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - January 28, 2009 - Strategy (Page 8) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - January 28, 2009 - Strategy (Page 9) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - January 28, 2009 - Strategy (Page 10) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - January 28, 2009 - Jacky Law (Page 11) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - January 28, 2009 - Jacky Law (Page 12) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - January 28, 2009 - Calendar (Page 13)
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