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The drug maker Eli Lilly and Co quietly launched a new website today for a program dubbed Lilly Phenotypic Drug Discovery Initiative or PD². According to the company, “The PD² initiative is a unique opportunity for investigators from external institutions to submit proprietary compounds for potential screening in Lilly's phenotypic assay panel. This highly collaborative process is enabled by a web-based application that facilitates efficient transfer of information between Lilly and the investigator. The PD² screening panel is currently comprised of five modules which are relevant to therapeutic areas of long-term strategic interest, including oncology, neurological disorders, and metabolic diseases. This panel may change over time to reflect additional research interests.”

Company officials believe that program will allow it to evaluate and possibly license treatments from biotech companies and academic institutions "that are never fully evaluated as potential drug candidates." The launch of the PD² website—perhaps the first of its kind—clearly sends a signal that pharmaceutical companies are reducing their reliance on internal discovery programs to identify prospective new molecular entities and are eager to enter into licensing deals to find and acquire them. 

Membership in the PD² requires that a legal representative from the investigator's academic institution or biotech company executes a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA). Once the MTA is reviewed and approved by Lilly officials, the institution can create an account. Until that time, use of the site is limited to browsing only. I have no doubt that technology transfer offices at most major universities will be signing up for membership in short order.

I think the PD² initiative is an innovative and timely one given the massive reductions in R&D jobs that have taken place at many pharma companies over the past two years. Expect other pharma companies to follow Lilly’s lead.

Until next time....

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!

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A little over a year ago, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) launched its “productivity transformation initiative” (PTI) designed to “transform” the company into a next generation biopharma leader. As most of you may already know, PTI is corporate speak for layoffs and downsizing.

The PTI was largely in response to impending loss of patent protection in 2011 of its blockbuster Plavix, an anti-thrombosis drug that BMS co-markets with Sanofi Aventis. While BMS has a deep and innovative drug pipeline, the likelihood that the company will be able to replace Plavix revenues with one of its investigational drugs is remote.

To make matters worse, late last week, one of Plavix’s likely successors, an investigational anti-clotting drug called apixaban (being co-developed with Pfizer) failed to meet its primary clinical endpoints in a pivotal Phase III clinical trial called Advance 1 which was designed to evaluate the drug for prevention of venous thromboembolism in patients undergoing total knee replacement.  The 3,195-patient study compared apixaban, an oral Factor Xa inhibitor given at a dose of 2.5 mg, twice daily, to twice-daily 30mg injections of Sanofi-Aventis’ Lovenox (enoxaparin). This late stage clinical failure prompted the company to announce that it would no longer seek approval of apixaban in 2009 as previously planned.

Early this week, BMS ratcheted up the PTI and imposed a total hiring freeze for all permanent employees, consultants and leased workers (contractors). Previously, vacated permanent or temporary positions could be refilled if appropriate, qualified job candidates were identified. Finally, the company announced today that it would permanently ground its corporate fleet of jets that was operating out of Mercer County Airport in Trenton, NJ. According to an article in my local paper, the Trenton Times, BMS plans to sell four aircraft and layoff about 32 employees, mostly pilots and mechanics. 

Despite all of the other PTI initiatives implemented to date, the decision to sell all of its corporate jets sends a clear signal to stakeholders that BMS truly “means business”! I guess Jim Cornelius and other BMS executives will have to book commercial flights or take Amtrak to out-of-town meetings for the foreseeable future. That said, I doubt that Jim and others will be driving or taking the train to meetings in New York City or Washington—the corporate helicopter fleet is still operating!!!!!

Until next time….

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting (forget BMS)!!!!!!!

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Despite an increase in profits, BMS announced today that it will continue with its Productivity Transformation Initiative (PTI) that was instituted last fall. According to the PTI, BMS must save $1.0 billion over the next 2 years. Of course, the only way to accomplish this is by laying off employees whose jobs are not directly related to the process of transforming BMS into a “ next generation biopharma company” (Would somebody please write me and explain what that means)???? I suspect that BMS employees will be receiving “pink slips” after Labor Day.

This has been a devastating week for the NJ-based pharmaceutical industry. First, Teva announced last week that it will buy Montvale NJ-based Barr Pharmaceuticals and then earlier this week Roche issued a press release indicating that it will move its corporate headquarters from Nutley NJ to South San Francisco (Genentech’s headquarters) by 2010. The impending layoffs at BMS coupled with job freezes and downsizing at other NJ pharma companies like Schering Plough and Merck may signal the beginning of the end of New Jersey’s status as the “nation’s medicine chest.”

Until next time….

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting (forget New Jersey)!

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