Victor Frankl and how to not be depressed about the state of the Pharma industry

Especially within the last week, it is hard to surf the 'Net or turn on the T.V. and not be inundated with bad news about the economy or the state of the Pharma industry. With all of the negative news out there, it is easy to become overwhelmed. All of us collectively feel that we are the victims of circumstances and events beyond our control.

And the truth of the matter is that we have no control over these events. We have no control over the economy. We have no control over whether or not Congress will approve the bailout. We have no control over whether or not our companies will lay us off. The list of things that we have no control over is infinite.

So what are our options? Do we simply curl up in a fetal position and give up?

Actually there is another option....and this advice comes from Victor Frankl.
Victor Frankl was an Austrian Psychiatrist and survivor of the Nazi concentration camps. He wrote a book about both his experiences in the camps and the philosophy and the mind-set that he developed while imprisoned in them. In that book, "Man's Search for Meaning" Frankl summarized his philosophy when he wrote,

"Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

So when times get tough....and they probably will -
When the economy falters....and it will probably continue to do so -
We have to realize that while we can't control what is going on externally in the world, we can control our attitude toward these events.
So instead of worrying and being depressed about a pending lay-off....which we can't control anyway....we can instead update our resumes and work to improve our interviewing skills.
And instead of curling up on the couch depressed about our company's 3rd quarter earnings, we can instead get up and attend an industry related networking event and try to develop contacts that will enable us to move to a better company.
Bottom line...
Our attitudes and our actions are the only things that we actually can control.

GSK to cut 850 R&D jobs

According to Reuters GSK is set to slash 850 jobs in R&D in both the UK and the US.
You can view the article here.

As John Murphy, analyst at Goldman Sachs notes, "R&D is no longer the sacred cow it was in the past."

Credit Crunch to affect Pharma M&A activity

The Financial Times asks an interesting question in this article today....Will the credit crunch affect M&A activity? The article discusses the possible implications of the credit crunch on Roche's bid for Genentech. While they were not mentioned specifically in the article, two other pending deals that obviously are subject to the same financial issues as the Roche/Genentech deal, are King Pharmaceuticals' bid to acquire Alpharma and the "Mystery Suitor" trying to acquire Imclone.
Time will tell if the lack of liquidity in the markets is the death knell for these deals.

Does a Pfizer Breakup Make Sense?

Peter Benesh of Investor's Business Daily asks here if Pfizer would not be better off if it broke up the company. Peter writes,
"One idea, whispered more than hollered, is to break up Pfizer and sell it in pieces to unlock shareholder value."
Les Funtleyder, an analyst at Miller Tabak agrees with the premise that a breakup may also be better for shareholders:
"Investors wonder if the share price reflects the value of the assets and the business and, if not, will a breakup unlock that value?"

Others quoted in the article ask if Pfizer's size and its culture stifle innovation and if a "smaller and nimbler" Pfizer wouldn't be more successful.

I am not sure exactly what is the best route for Pfizer to take in order to address its problems.
But there is one thing I am sure of....The problems that Pfizer faces are not unique to Pfizer.
Every other big Pharma company is wrestling with the same issues and problems.
Bottom line: The Big Pharma business model is outdated and ineffective in today's environment.

Major Pfizer layoffs on the way

According to contacts of mine....there are some major layoffs in the works at Pfizer.
As one on my contacts said in an email, the problems at Pfizer are worse than they expected.
It really looks like it will be bad.
And Big Pharma's woes continue.....

Troubles for Merck

FiercePharma reports that an influential analyst for the pharma sector has just downgraded Merck shares. See the post here. Tim Anderson of Sanford Bernstein recently cited a number of reasons for his negative stance with regards to Merck ranging from the problems with Singulair and Gardasil to problems with Merck's pipeline.

It sure is tough being a Big Pharma firm these days.....

Outsourcing the Drug Industry

Interesting article in the most recent BusinessWeek magazine entitled Outsourcing the Drug Industry. The article details the efforts of Big Pharma companies to develop drug discovery partnerships with companies in China and India. According to the article,

"What the multinationals now seek from India is the same combination of brainpower and cost savings that made the subcontinent a leader in software and computer services....[And] the impact of research outsourcing will be amplified greatly as China, with an even bigger pool of biochemists, expands its role."

But the article does note that,

"The rush east, where five PhD chemists can be had for the cost of one in the West, entails risks."