Yesterday I was honored to attend and participate in the 2nd annual Galien Forum (part of the Prix Galien celebration). The topic under debate for my panel was, “What is value and how can it be measured and demonstrated in therapeutic innovations?”
I was joined on the dais by Jeff Berkowitz (SVP, Pharmaceutical Development and Market Access, Walgreens; Robert Epstein, Chief Clinical Research and Development Officer, Medco; Barry Gertz, SVP, Head of Clinical Research and Regulatory Affairs, Merck; and Roger Longman, CEO, Real Endpoints. Our moderator was Dick Pasternak, a former Merck VP, Harvard Medical School associate professor and past director of Preventive Cardiology at Mass General).
The combination of a meaty topic and a high-octane panel made for a robust conversation. When the video of the panel is available, I will post it.
The audience was engaged and one question was particularly thought provoking. Not surprisingly, it came from Nobel Laureate Dr. Michael Brown (Professor of Molecular Genetics and Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and a board member of Pfizer). Dr. Brown asked why innovative companies like Apple have such high public esteem while innovative pharmaceutical companies are at the other end of the spectrum of public opinion.
Perhaps the answer (or at least a piece of the answer) is that Apple defines itself in terms of innovation and the value it brings. How, in contrast, do pharmaceutical companies (and the people who populate it) define themselves? Too many see their jobs as “selling drugs.” And while that is certainly a part of it (and an important and worthy part at that) should that be how they define their jobs and their employers?
Until and unless pharmaceutical companies and their employees define themselves as being in the advancing healthcare business (as all their mottos proclaim), they will not be given the credit for the innovation that they truly deliver.
Many believe such image issues are the responsibility of PhRMA. And while the trade organization certainly has an important role to play, ask yourself this – does Apple rely on its trade association to promote its innovativeness?
Another panel featured (among others) Dr. Steve Nissen on the topic of “Perspectives on Innovation, Patient Safety and Global Access.” Here’s one direct quote from Dr. Nissen:
“No one should ever stop taking a medicine because of something they saw on television.”
Please pass the remote.
