Power and Influence
Did you know that the capacity of management to exert influence decreases with age?
Not the executive’s age, (although that may be true) I mean the length of time a drug has been in development.
And the attention that management pays to a drug in development increases with age.
But the real reason that all that loving attention is lavished on the later stages of development is, of course, cost.
Looking down the barrel of the Pharma pipeline looks a lot like this:
By the time a drug is in phase 3, management might just as well pack up and go home.
Failure almost Guaranteed
Why do so many mistakes get made during the pipeline process?
Industry analysts list the main five reasons as:
- Over-confidence
- Loss aversion
- Too many drugs in development
- Un-aggregated risk
- Not enough capable people
But a close examination of the way industry pipelines work reveals a different, more sinister reason.
What do you think it might be?
Watch any relay race and see where all the action and excitement happens.
When do most of the mistakes get made?
Handing over the baton!
Why should it be so difficult?
The batten holder desperately wants to pass it on.
The recipient desperately wants to get hold of it.
What could possibly go wrong?
The sad truth is that most value gets destroyed at the points where the pipeline reduces in diameter. Where the drug moves from one phase to the next.
Why do you think that is?
In the mining industry, research shows that a smooth transition between stages of the pipeline is rare.
Mining projects move from Concept Exploration, Advanced Exploration, Resource Development, Concept Studies, Pre-Feasibility Studies, Feasibility Studies, Establishment and Operation. “People issues” at each stage handover cause delays, misunderstandings and embed serious latent problems.
The Thoughtware that characterises each stage is different.
Widespread understanding of the entire process is not common, even at senior management level.
Do you think the same might be true of the Pharma pipelines?
(Tomorrow's Post: Paradigm Change)
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