Posted on December 13, 2011 by BioJobBlogger

And The Worst Biotech CEO of 2011 Is......

Annually, the Street.Com surveys its readers to identify the year’s worst biotechnology CEO. Yes, despite large salaries, great benefits and, in most cases, outstanding employees, the executives who make the list just can't seem to do the job right.

The 2011 survey was just released and this year’s five worst CEOs are: 

  1. Mitch Gold—Dendreon Corp
  2. Greg Divis, Jr—KV Pharma
  3. Al Mann—Mannkind Corp
  4. Joe Zakrzewski—Amarin Corp
  5. John Martin—Gilead Life Sciences

Other notable nominees included: Elan Pharmaceutical’s Kelly Martin, Genzyme’s Henri Termeer and Dan Bradbury of Amylin Pharmaceuticals.

Honorable mention awards went to Jim Bianco of Cell Therapeutics, Doug MacLellan of Radient Pharmaceuticals and Brian Culley of Adventrx Pharmaceuticals.

Despite these dubious distinctions, I would like to be earning their annual salaries and bonus compensation packages!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting (I would avoid the companies whose CEOs made the list)

 

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Posted on January 17, 2008 by BioJobBlogger

Inhalable Insulin: Not Worth the Effort?

The Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk announced today that it was halting further clinical development of its inhalable insulin product called AERx. AERx was in Phase 3 clinical testing as a short-term diabetes treatment. In a press release the company stated that it was halting development of its inhaled insulin compound because the drug was "unlikely to offer significant clinical or convenience benefits" versus current diabetes treatments.” AERx joins Exubera (Nektar Therapeutics/ Pfizer) on the inhalable insulin scrap heap. This leavesEli Lilly and Alkermes’ IR insulin system as the only inhalable short-acting diabetes treatment in Phase 3 clinical development.

Interestingly, Novo didn't say that it was giving up on developing inhalable insulins— only that it was halting its current late-stage AERx program. The company did announce that it plans to pursue a Glucagon_Like Protein (GLP-1) inhalable diabetes treatment which is similar to a product being developed by California-based MannKind. Its product in Phase 1 clinical testing. Unlike Nektar, which partnered with Pfizer to develop Exubera, MannKind, a small startup, is developing its inhalable insulin product alone. Novo also disclosed plans to develop a longer-acting injectable form of insulin which would eliminate the need for daily injections by patients with diabetes.

In theory, inhalable insulins make sense—many people hate daily injections. That said, inhalable insulins may create other problems that obviate their usefulness as alternatives to daily insulin injections-just ask Pfizer and Nektar about that!

Until next time….

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!!!

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