What skills do new pharma CEO's need?
Dec/21/2007 06:04 Filed in: Pharma
Business
Mr Lechleiter, who will replace Mr Taural at Lilly has a science background and the Street rewarded that choice with a boost to Lilly stock but a science background is no guarantee of success in this troubled industry. Here are some skills that pharma CEO's have to have in order to succeed in their positions:
1. Lead- Communication at every level of the organization is essential both listening and talking. Pharma marketers have taken a lot of heat over the last couple of years and have lost their bearing over the importance and objective of DTC marketing. It's also time to let them know that the days of $100 million DTC budgets are coming to an end.
2. Innovate- The way of doing things "the way we always did them" are gone. In addition to reducing costs the CEO must provide an atmosphere that produces innovation at every level, from product development to processes which slow down reaction time. Bonuses should be provided to those that demonstrate innovation.
3. Slowly get naked: Transparency is needed in pharma but this will not happen overnight. It needs to happen slowly with a measured approach that will keep the buzzards (lawyers) at bay. It does however start at the top with a risk analysis that is is fluid.
4. Who's your customer? Is the company more loyal to its shareholders or customers or both and to what extent? MBA analysts do not understand drug development they only think of the bottom line so why spend time catering to their short term instant gratifications.
5. Develop vertical integration of social media and relationships with key opinion leaders: No not just physicians but consumers as well. If there is a lesson to be learned from Pfizer's write off of Exubera it's "don't ignore bloggers who have influence".
6. Finally, look towards the future and prepare the company to be competitive in a changing global marketplace. Don't be reactive, be proactive ! Yes there are risks but the CEO is paid to manage those risks not sit back and keep Wall Street analysts in their luxury New York condo's.
So will Mr Lechleiter succeed in his new position? That is hard to say. I can say that when I met him I was impressed with presence and I think he has the determination to succeed but he is going to need a broad array of skills to keep the sharks away.
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