The Quest for Potential – Sharing Our Story
Pharma Super Projects – Top 5 Insights from Advance Readers
Many leaders in pharma are ‘seeing red’, with newspaper headlines about the threat posed by Chinese drugs companies and industry observers warning that big pharma could be loosing its edge.
But what if Chinese Competition is more of a red herring than a red flag? What if it is not just a threat, but potentially a good thing? Especially in a world that needs more & better drugs, more affordable drugs too?
Moreover, who says such a worthy goal can be achieved without big pharma? Or that it can only be achieved at the expense of big pharma’s profitability, even its future?
Analysts warn of underestimating the size & sophistication of China’s pharma industry. But there is also a danger of underestimating big pharma too! In particular, the scale of its ambition and its confidence.
Rather than resting on its laurels, the industry is investing heavily in its future. The big players are investing an average of $9bn annually on innovation.
Analysts point to a Chinese drug that threatens the industry front-runner Keyruda. But is the drug’s owner Merck taking the threat lying down? Certainly not! In 2023 alone, Merck invested a staggering $30bn in innovation.
In addition to leveraging industry-leading innovation through acquisition, big pharma is making big leaps in terms of driving in-house R&D productivity. With the promise of more to come. And, given the race to replenish pipelines, it is certainly needed.
Some suggest that big pharma is too big & too slow. When they look at the org. chart they see a hierarchy, with functional lines of reporting. But that is not how you map innovation in big pharma today.
Rather, innovation is happening in a matrix or network of teams that span boundaries & functions. In this way, Big Pharma is increasingly adopting a dual operating model.
This enables big pharma to maintain the highest levels of stability, predictability & control in its core business as the market expects of any Fortune 500 corporation with a robust global supply chain & careful corporate governance.
At the same time, it enables innovation to be delivered with surprising levels of speed, agility & collaboration by cross-functional teams of extraordinarily talented & committed people.
These are big pharma’s greatest competitive advantage in the face of a rising Chinese pharma industry and the many other opportunities & challenges facing the industry. Yet, investors & analysts rarely, if ever, get to meet the people who are making pharma’s super projects happen. They don’t get to witness their extraordinary passion, determination & skill.
Our research tells the story of pharma’s super projects and the new organizational superheroes who are bringing them to life.
Join Us at www.Super-Projects.co
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