Pharmaceutical Technologist - May 2008 - (Page 12)

Success and the connected world their business, compared with 30% globally. Given that the sector has used alliances extensively during the last decade, the lower number suggests that this strategy is well-established in PLS, while its use is still on the upswing in other sectors. Regulations Given that the PLS industry is one of the most heavily regulated in the world — with many companies operating in multiple jurisdictions — the burden of successfully managing complex rules and regulations is a major issue faced by CEOs. Nearly all industry executives indicated that the need to consider regulatory requirements when making business decisions was a top priority (91% for industry compared with 63% for global), and there was a significant divergence of views regarding how governments could improve the business environment. By a substantial margin, industry CEOs believed that governments could improve healthcare (53% for industry compared with 11% for global). The survey also showed that industry executives felt that improvement was needed in product safety regulations (23% for industry compared with 11% for global). Regarding issues related to global warming, industry CEO’s views were less differentiated from their global counterparts — with 47% of respondents in the sector agreeing that developed countries should accept more responsibility and costs than developing economies for mitigating climate change, compared with 36% globally. Fifty three percent strongly agreed that governments should take more of a leadership role in determining mitigation strategies for climate change, compared with 39% globally. However, CEOs do recognize the importance of global experience in the success of their organizations — 63% consider this as a critical factor, compared with 55% globally. In terms of skills, CEOs see the ability to combine technical ability with business expertise as the top skill they want in employees (94% for industry compared with 83% for global). They also see the ability to adjust to external and internal changes quickly, and developing and leading others as important (88% for both industry and global). As one would expect, creativity and innovativeness were seen as top qualities in employees (scoring more than 80%) and a substantial majority of executives (75%) view collaborating with networks of external specialists as critical. This highlights the importance of external sources of innovation (e.g., National Institutes of Health and academic medical centres). PLS sector CEOs seemed confident in their ability to meet the challenges of their business as 94% agreed with the statement that ‘my leadership has the capability to lead significant change’, while only 55% globally agreed with the statement. From a human resources perspective, one of the top challenges facing most organizations is successfully driving change and overcoming ineffective and inefficient processes. Being able to implement new processes, structures and systems to support organizational and operational realignment is seen as fundamental; more than two thirds (69%) of sector executives say they have deployed new business processes during the last 3 years. products that demonstrate outcomes at reasonable prices — by all players across the continuum. To flourish, companies need to invest more in research, understand and demonstrate the value of their products, lower the cost of distribution, collaborate with partners at home and abroad, and provide value-added services to customers. Effectively meeting these challenges will deliver enormous rewards in terms of human health and business success.” PT Reference 1. www.pwc.com/pharma Simon Friend leads PricewaterhouseCoopers’ global pharmaceutical and life sciences group and is based in London (UK). He has worked for the form for 25 years and has spent 18 of these working with pharmaceutical clients. He has written and spoken on a broad range of pharmaceutical topics. Simon has an MA from Cambridge University (UK), is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has spent 5 years based in the US. Looking forward This year’s findings point to a number of fundamental concerns facing PLS companies. Steve Arlington, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Global Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Advisory Leader sums up the situation as: “The entire global healthcare system is undergoing a seismic shift. The industry is being held far more accountable — for Strategy and execution Most CEOs rate the ‘people agenda’ as one of their top priorities (91% for industry compared with 89% for global), but only 53% of PLS sector CEOs see personally dealing with it as the ‘best use of their time’ versus 67% for global respondents. 12 MAY 2008 PHARMACEUTICAL TECHNOLOGIST http://www.pwc.com/pharma

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Pharmaceutical Technologist - May 2008 Contents Industry Highlights Morpheus Market Watch Pharma’s Need for Integrated Safety Is Pharma’s Future Mobile? Facing the CRO Behemoths Q&A

Pharmaceutical Technologist - May 2008

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