Leadership Series @ SIIB ( 12th September 2009 )

S. Kalyanasundaram
MD, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals





His talks on innovation in Pharma industry:
Historically, the pharmaceutical industry has been the fountainhead for innovation. It is the most specialized and innovative industry. It has breakthrough scientists who have won many noble prizes working for it.
The core strength of this industry is innovation and the three most important factors with regard to this industry being successful are:

• The key component is science for innovation and a long term inclination to be ready to invest in science.
• There is a major need to be in touch with the real life i.e. the people and the problems being faced by them to understand what all innovations are needed.
  

It is needed for companies to commercialize the whole string of operations because if they can’t then it will not be a successful business.
Deep understanding of science and intuition is what leads to a scientist to become innovative. Because, of the hundred thousand of molecules that are tested by them in the laboratories, its only a chosen one or two that are actually and finally approved to pass the regulatory standards. So the factor of risk associated with this industry is very high.
The inherent characteristics of the pharmaceutical industry that makes innovation a necessity are:

• It is dynamic, diverse and sophisticated.
  
• It is not exposed much to the public, rather more inclined towards the experimental and quiet side.
• Global and internationalized as each company in the industry is spread through various countries.
• Highly fragmented with large number of players in the market.
• Intensely competitive, as the returns are very attractive.
• Technology and research driven.
• Highly regulated as the product needs to be patented and permission needs to be taken by the government to sell the medicines.
• It is a knowledge industry.
  

Not many industries can cope with increase in spending when the outputs being given are zilch or almost next to them. Even when the product is introduced after so much of work, the industry is never sure whether the market will accept it or not and 90% of them never even break even. The amount of money spent by the various companies of the industry is almost the same for the development of the same drug but the realization that they get varies by leaps and bounds because of the advantage for moving at proper time.
Drugs don’t behave the same for all people and in all regions. So for this DNA sequencing is done for this to make the product safe for the patient. This is although expensive but gives the companies a vast group to manufacture drugs for.
Apart from all these scientific innovations there are also certain commercial innovations in the industry, which are achieved through:

• Product benefit is considered a part of innovation.
• Ability to offer a differentiated and different product and effectively interact with the customer.
  

Innovation in a business has some common elements that are: attitude, determination, patience, organization support, belief in people and team work and above all the ability to think differently. Supporting that, even the pharma companies follow innovation implementing these as well as the scientific innovations for the betterment of both the society and economy.