Biotech Mega Deals

Earlier in the week, Rueters reported that Ernst & Young had just released their annual Global Biotech Survey. According to the Consulting Firm:

"One or more mega acquisitions of mature biotechnology companies along the lines witnessed with MedImmune -- and nearly seen with Biogen Idec in 2007 -- is likely."

But do big deals make sense? Some experts believe smaller, more targeted, deals provide better results. And there is probably a lot more validity to the latter approach of smaller deals.
As one of my friends is fond of saying, "If you take one large empty drug pipeline and combine it with another large empty drug pipeline, you get one VERY LARGE....EMPTY PIPELINE."

Bigger isn't always better.

Happy Anniversary!!!

On a personal note...today The Harrison Group celebrates 12 years in business.
I started the firm on 5/23/96. Starting and operating The Harrison Group has been by far...with the exception of the birth of my kids....the most significant event of my life. I wouldn't trade my experience of running this company for anything. It really has been that great!!!

Good news for Pharma workers

Ed Silverman over a Pharmalot reports here that while there have been a number of layoffs in the Pharma industry, most workers are finding jobs at comparable or higher levels. In fact, Ed writes:

Of those laid off, 73 percent found new jobs at the same or higher level, and 84 percent did so without relocating.

The bottom line is this: People in the Pharmaceutical industry need to realize that while there has been a tremendous amount of change in the industry...while the newspaper seem to be full of negative press about the future of the industry...there still exists a tremendous amount of opportunity in Pharma. The Pharmaceutical Industry is still...by far...the most exciting and rewarding industry out there. People are being laid off...some companies are downsizing...but there is still a lot of hiring going on.

And I see it every day.

Hassan says Schering Plough recovery still on track

Fred Hassan told shareholders at a meeting in Memphis on Friday that he still feels that his turn-around plans for Schering-Plough are still on track. You can see the article here.
But he backs his claim up with some solid facts. Sales at Schering are up by $6.6 Billion in the last four years. And Schering-Plough now has 13 experimental drugs in the final rounds of human testing. That figure is up from 5 in 2003. The recent developments with Vytorin has obviously set Schering back somewhat...but maybe Hassan can still pull off another turn-around...Stay tuned.

Chinese Generics

According to a recent article on Reuters, there soon will be a wave of generics coming out of China.
The end result of this development will be a significant decrease in prices for generics.
The problem is this...if cost becomes the overriding concern for these companies, then quality will eventually suffer. Quality issues when they involve things like toys and consumer products are admittedly an annoyance...but rarely do those issues cause any serious damage. Unfortunately quality issues in products that we ingest can have extremely far-reaching implications.
Stay tuned for more...