Articles by Louis Garguilo
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Worth A Look At 2013: EvaluatePharma Report Puts 2014 in Perspective
5/16/2014
The M&A news for big pharma has come so quickly thus far in 2014 that we could easily overlook the events that transpired in 2013. Fortunately, the folks at EvaluatePharma did not. Their 2013 report on the industry is a nice look at where we are coming from and allows us some reflection on what preceded the events that have occurred in this first half of 2014.
Out of all the charts and analysis in the report, one in particular lends some key perspective. The chart shows total pharma M&A deals (and market value) for the years 2008-2013. According to EvaluatePharma, in 2009 there were 169 deals valued at $142 billion. In 2013 there were also 169 deals, but this time valued at just $76 billion. It would be easy to conclude from these numbers that we are entering a period of limited deal-making in the industry, but events during the first half of 2014 now inform us that would most likely be the wrong conclusion.
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Indonesia: More Than “The Third Largest Democracy”
5/9/2014
In that neighborhood of Southeast Asia, Singapore gets the “merlion” share of the news when it comes to the pharmaceutical industry and CRO/CMO activity. The Jurong Island area alone boasts a list of pharmaceutical manufacturing companies. Next door, though, Malaysia has not been shy about sounding its own trumpet to the pharma and CRO/CMO industries. The following is from a mid-2012 interview with Leonard Ariff Abdul Shatar, President, Malaysian Organisation of Pharmaceutical Industries (MOPI), as reported in PharmaBoardRoom.com:
“To sum up the (Malaysian pharmaceutical) market is open, protected by patent recognition and the Ministry of Health has an active generics policy driven primarily by the rising cost of healthcare. The main asset of Malaysia for the large MNCs (multi-national companies) is an excellent contract manufacturing environment thanks to high standards. Malaysia may not be as cheap as a facility in Indonesia or an unregulated factory in India, but the assets of local companies in Malaysia have all been audited by international authorities. Malaysia is therefore the best manufacturing centre in South East Asia if not the whole of Asia.”
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Is Long-Term Unemployment An Issue For Pharma?
4/24/2014
As we slipped into the booth at the local diner, it occurred to me that the last time I had spoken to Glen was at this same venue. “Yeah, that was two years ago,” he said with a tinge of nostalgia. Two years ago? Time had flown by for me but I know it was not the case for him. Glen still had not found a new full-time position.
A Ph.D. scientist (organic chemistry) with solid people skills and senior management experience, I was surprised when he got down-sized. I was just as sure he would end up in a good place in the long-run. Unfortunately, the long-run never came. After pursuing “more than 100 legitimate job leads and conversations throughout the pharmaceutical industry,” Glen is still looking for a new job. And just like that, I found myself sitting face-to-face with the long-term unemployment epidemic that is afflicting many individuals in the U.S., as well as scientists and pharmaceutical employees from around the world.
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The Language Of Our Industry
4/21/2014
True character and the quality of our thoughts are revealed in the way we talk about ourselves and the events in which we participate. We may purposely affect certain patterns of language, but the real thing is sooner or later uncovered.
Or something like that. We also know we have to walk the talk, as the more succinct saying puts it. Considering specifically the language of the contract drug discovery, development and manufacturing industry, in a recent outsourcing survey conducted by contractpharma.com, 75% of respondents said that they would use the word “partnership” to describe their relationship with their contract service providers. That has to be good news for both pharma sponsors and the CROs/CMOs around the world, and points to an improvement in level of service delivered by the latter.
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What To Do About India
2/28/2014
When you read some of the news regarding pharma manufacturing in India, the headlines are not good. Much of the narrative is negative and seems to be spiraling downward. Unfortunately, in today’s world the perception is often the reality, and the reality has us shaking our heads in wonder.
FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg has come out with a clear statement on the situation: Indian companies have to take more responsibility for quality control. Oh, and by the way, the FDA is also ramping up cGMP audits in India. When the FDA makes these kinds of statements, the industry listens.
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The Survey Says Affordability … And More
2/21/2014
Life Science is an industry driven by data, with human lives depending on it at any moment of the day. For outsourcing providers hoping to keep on top of sponsor perceptions of CMOs, the data of record is the industry-leading surveyor firm, Nice Insight. Recently they have been helping the industry parse the results of their 2013-2014 Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Survey.
The data from this survey is sliced and diced by pharma around the world to help them do some benchmarking (pun intended) of CRO and CMO partners. The Survey serves as a vital aid in helping select the right outsourcing providers, both from a strategic and tactical perspective for individual research programs as well as manufacturing projects. It can also assist with internal versus industry comparisons. For example, it can give insight into questions such as “Why was the experience that I had with a certain CRO different from that of another pharma firm?” And because we work in an industry where by necessity information is kept confidential, the pharmaceutical sponsors and service providers are often protective of conveying too much information about their relationships (provided they are providing any information at all). The beauty of the survey is that it provides industry-wide data that is available for all of us to peruse and analyze.
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Quality, Capacity And Job Security In A CMO Industry Merger -- Part 2 Of Our Interview With CEO Of Newly Formed DPx Holdings B.V.
This spring Jim Mullen became CEO of DPx Holdings B.V., formed in a $2.65 billion transaction combining JLL Partners’ assets Patheon and Banner Life Sciences, with Royal DSM’s Pharmaceuticals business. In an interview with Outsourced Pharma, Mullen discusses three key components in a merger: quality, capacity and job security.
With a merger nearing completion and the integration plans underway, Mullen says you have to start with the fundamental ABCs of business. “There are three fundamental questions to get to day one: Do you have the right financial controls? Can you reliably continue to pay your suppliers? Can you receive cash and can you make payroll?