Former Schering CEO sees more Pharmaceutical consolidation

Fred Hassan sees more consolidation in the Pharma sector.
You can see the interview here.
He claims that further consolidation is imminent because of two major factors:

1] New "Innovation Investments" require larger pools of resources. Hassan feels larger companies are better able to find drugs for complex diseases like Alzheimer's etc.

2] Smaller companies are running into cash-flow problems....and other than being acquired...these smaller companies have limited options with regards to sources of additional capital.

It is a short interview...but Hassan offers an interesting perspective in the clip.

Pfizer to chop billions from R&D

Fiercebiotech reports here that Pfizer is planning to cut R&D spending by $3 Billion by 2012.

I have felt for years that the Big Pharma business model was no longer valid in the current environment. Bigger is no longer better.

What does that mean for an R&D Chemist/Scientist in Pharma?

It means that while no company is 100% guaranteed secure and stable....going forward....you will have more relative security and stability in the smaller and mid-sized Pharma/Biotech firms than you will have in Big Pharma.