Keynote industry perspective
The pharma and biotech industries are increasingly being asked to deliver more innovation and value for lower cost: How are our R&D strategies going to meet this challenge?

• What are our key initiatives for reducing R&D spend while maintaining/increasing innovation?
  • Diversity in drug platforms provides the impetus for sustaining innovation
  • Unique technical ability to tailor biotherapies for differentiated drug profiles
  • An expanding role for vaccines to provide health solutions throughout all patient life challenges

Mikael Dolsten, MD, PhD, President, BioTherapeutics Research & Development, Pfizer Inc

Questions & discussion

Addressing the pharmaceutical industry's leadership crisis

• What is the evidence of a crisis in leadership?
• Why is it so hard to fix? Leadership challenges unique to our industry.
• Designer leadership: what leadership competencies are critical to our success?
• How should we develop, empower and reward the right "kind" of leadership?
• New business models, new organizational structures, new cultures... what do we really need?

Dr Richard J. Heaslip, Vice President, Project & Portfolio Management, Wyeth Research

Questions & discussion

Keynote address
Crisis in biotech and pharma-should there be a different approach?

• What are the untapped areas for future improvements in R&D productivity and efficiency?
• What are the levers to enable step changes?

Dr Tomasz Sablinski, Head of Development, Celtic Therapeutics Management LLLP

Panel discussion
How can R&D leaders drive more business-focused R&D and make a real difference to productivity and efficiency gains?

• What should leadership be focusing on? How transparent and permissive is our company and our industry?
  • Scientific leadership
  • Program leadership
  • Business leadership
  • Industry leadership
• Focused strategies for growth versus all-over cost-cutting: Which is the more cost effective and productive in the short and long term?
• How to spend less on average whilst recognizing that you have to do more work in the future for molecules that are successful
• Striving for quality not quantity of candidates: What differences in leadership does this philosophy require?
• A futuristic look at the technology landscape and its forecast impact on productivity and efficiency: How should R&D leaders be assessing the risk / reward profile and transformational potential of new technologies?

Panellist:
John V. W. Reynders, PhD, Head of Integrative Neurosciences & Biomarkers & Head of the Informatics Center of Excellence, Johnson & Johnson

Morning coffee in the exhibition area

Picking apart the numbers: What do they tell us is at the heart of the efficiency and productivity problem, and what solutions do they infer?

• What productivity and efficiency metrics are appropriate as we move towards an increasingly heterogeneous pipeline mix?
• Establishing key performance indicators
• Are we making the problem worse with merger and alliance mania?
  • Does the data support it moving us to a better place or not?

Iain Cockburn, Professor of Finance & Economics, Boston University School of Management

Questions & discussion

Case study
Increasing productivity by maximizing the value of each drug – but how to pick the lead indications?

• How to pick the lead indication when there could be several to choose from: "first among equals"
• Getting into multiple indications: When is the drug de-risked enough to try other indications?
• Examining the niche buster / progressive blockbuster approach

Donald R. Johns MD, Vice President, Deputy Global Head of Translational Medicine, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research

Questions & discussion

Panel discussion
As pipeline characteristics evolve, how does this new mix impact pipeline valuations and the justification of portfolio decisions?

• How should the pipeline be valued now if we are approaching it so differently? Eg molecular pathway based drug development
• How do you value the whole asset rather than individual entities?
• What new analytical processes might be required both from the outside looking in and also internally?
• Is net present value still applicable?
• How will analysts view the new-look pipeline?
• How do you justify your portfolio decisions in this environment?
• What can pharma learn from biotech?

Panellist:
Dr Jeffrey Chodakewitz, Vice-President, Early Development Group Leader, Merck & Co

Lunch & close of the Phacilitate R&D Leaders' Forum 2009