The McKinsey Quarterly

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McKinsey Quarterly is the business journal of McKinsey & Company.

interview with AstraZeneca’s Asia R&D head article, peculiarities of Chinese pharmaceuticals market, Pharmaceuticals

February 2012 

Innovating in China’s pharma market: An interview with AstraZeneca’s head of R&D in Asia and emerging markets

The country may well foster new models of innovation, but success will require a long-term commitment and talent development.

Recent Thinking
  • Three snapshots of Chinese innovation article, Chinese innovation by GM, AstraZeneca, semiconductors, Pharmaceuticals

    February 2012 

    Three snapshots of Chinese innovation

    Chinese innovation is evolving in diverse ways and at an uneven pace across a range of different industries. Presented here are ground-level views from three of them: automobiles, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals.

  • wake-up call for Big Pharma article, pharmaceutical industry faces cost pressures, Pharmaceuticals

    December 2011 

    A wake-up call for Big Pharma

    Lower profit margins suggest a need for new business models.

  • Closing the R&D gap in African health care article, sustainable funding mechanisms for innovation research and development, Pharmaceuticals

    June 2010 

    Closing the R&D gap in African health care

    A system governed by Africans in Africa is needed to provide a sustainable funding mechanism that would encourage African scientists to collaborate on common health concerns, share expertise, and build capacity.

    Includes: Interactive
  • New frontiers pharma R&D article, new pharma research partnership, Pharmaceuticals

    February 2010 

    New frontiers in pharma R&D investment

    By taking advantage of a range of innovative R&D financing and partnership models, pharmaceutical companies can place more bets with less money, less work, and less risk.

The Archive

2010

  • February 2010 

    R&D in emerging markets: A new approach for a new era

    Gone is the time when R&D in developed markets could meet the pharmaceutical needs of emerging ones. A local presence is required.

  • February 2010 

    The microeconomics of personalized medicine

    Personalized medicine promises to increase the quality of clinical care and, in some cases, to decrease health care costs. The biggest hurdles are economic, not scientific.

  • February 2010 

    The road to positive R&D returns

    Scientific innovation is not the only route to higher R&D productivity. Attention to the familiar management areas of cost, speed, and decision making can still reap rewards.

2009

2008

2007

  • December 2007 

    Building Japan’s generic-drug market

    Makers of generic and branded drugs alike stand to gain by developing the country's fledgling market.

  • September 2007 

    Improving quality in pharma manufacturing

    For pharmaceutical and medical-product companies, adopting world-class manufacturing processes can create a competitive advantage by reducing regulatory risk and production costs.

  • July 2007 

    Using IT to speed up clinical trials

    The first wave of IT improvements solved some problems, but opportunities remain. Now it’s time for a more comprehensive approach.

2006

2004

2003

  • May 2003 

    Pharma for Fido

    The animal health industry will grow steadily over the next several years, providing solid if unspectacular profits for the pharma companies that own most of the businesses in it—but may now wish to divest them.

  • May 2003 

    Pharma goes direct in Japan

    Despite restrictions on drug advertising in Japan, recent pilot campaigns suggest new ways for companies to reach out to patients.

2002

  • November 2002 

    Riding the pharma roller coaster

    In an industry in which many mergers have failed to create value, Fred Hassan has used them to take Pharmacia into the pharmaceutical big leagues. Here he explains how.

  • November 2002 

    The new math for drug licensing

    Pharmaceutical companies that license drugs too late are losing out on significant amounts of value.

  • August 2002 

    Making more of pharma's sales force

    Pharmaceutical companies have lost their focus on doctors. The key to higher sales is regaining it.

  • June 2002 

    Biopharma's capacity crunch

    A shortfall in plant capacity threatens to slow down the delivery of protein-based therapeutics.

  • May 2002 

    A cure for clinical trials

    US pharma companies often miss their deadlines when testing new drugs. The use of marketing techniques to manage the recruitment of patients for clinical trials could speed things up considerably.

2001

2000

  • August 2000 

    Swiss drug makers: Facing the US giants

    Swiss companies participated strongly in the pharmaceutical industry’s recent golden age of wealth creation, but it was their US rivals that set the benchmarks in stock value and performance. “Swiss drug makers: Facing the US giants” describes the moves the Swiss must make to secure their future.

  • May 2000 

    A prescription for direct drug marketing

    The billions so far laid out on direct-to-consumer ads for prescription drugs have mostly failed to deliver. Yet the successes of a few companies show that failure is hardly inevitable.

  • February 2000 

    A license to cure

    Drug companies are more and more likely to license promising pharmaceutical compounds from other companies rather than develop their own. But does licensing pay?

1999

  • November 1999 

    A genetic revolution in health care

    Genetic technologies promise to transform the overall economics of developing and selling drugs. For companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, the question isn't whether to invest but how soon.

1996

  • November 1996 

    Four opportunities in India’s pharmaceutical market

    Since price decontrol, the nominal growth rate has increased to 19 percent per year. Experience has led multinational pharmaceutical companies to cast a jaundiced eye on India’s basic research capabilities. They should reconsider.

  • May 1996 

    Pharmaceuticals - the consolidation isn’t over

    Overcapacity still costs the industry almost half its value. What premiums? Savings can amount to 40 percent of an acquisition’s costs. Could all medical needs be met with 247 drugs?

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