Q&A: Pharmaceutical/Biotech Industry

Question

Hi all,

I've seen a fair amount of discussion on the pharmaceutical and biotech industries across forums on this website, so I figured I would host a Q&A to answer any questions people may have about company/industry dynamics, what it's like to work it in, breaking it and general information.

As a bit of background, I studied a biomedical science at a UK medical target and followed that with a few years of healthcare consulting, heavily geared towards pharmaceuticals and biotech across commercial strategy, pricing, market access, commercial due diligence, M&A work and other industry

The Pharma Guy · Accepted Answer

Overall revenues might go down due to lower prices (since you would negotiate with the government who has more bargaining power than healthcare providers) but you would have broader access to healthcare and potentially better overall societal healthcare outcomes 
    Tough to do with biotech companies. The main thing to look for in the timeframe of a few months is the success of clinical trials and the potential strength of any partnerships they have lined up.

The Pharma Guy · Answer

Have shared some above in other comments :) In a nutshell, the robustness of their clinical trial design which directly influences coverage and reimbursement 
    For specific companies, it is much of the same things mentioned above for general success or failure. For therapy areas, orphan diseases are quite popular now but everyone things they can launch shit drugs and still get great pricing. Within orphan drugs always look for something that is truly an unmet need and whether the drug is unique compared to others.

The Pharma Guy · Answer

Happy to help! I think immunology conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis are an absolute money pit. Anyone investing in those is wasting money because you have a huge number of high quality established players (many of whom are going generic or biosimilar) and no need for new drugs. Same goes for many of the common cancers (breast, colorectal, NSCLC etc). The key with cancer is early detection - if you catch it early, standard chemo does the trick. Yes, some drugs have brought about step changes e.g. the first couple PDL1s or ALK inhibitors.

The Pharma Guy · Answer

I do not since I'm usually on the other side of the fence doing the corporate strategy for companies that are either well or somewhat established. What I can tell you from seeing some smaller biotech clients in their early days is that the main success factors are usually:

Being able to identify your target population and the true unmet need in it
    Bring something new or innovative to the table.

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Q&A: Pharmaceutical/Biotech Industry

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Q&A: Pharmaceutical/Biotech Industry

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