Abbott’s Tyree on the Future of Pharmaceutical Firms

Since pharmaceutical and biotech companies face the same external pressures, internal costs, and challenges, their best bet for the future is to work together, according to Abbotts James Tyree.

Tyree noted that myriad issues, ranging from the nearly nine-year development cycle for a new drug to the external threats posed by drug re-importation, made for a very challenging environment for us to manage and operate inand it shows.

Tyree, corporate vice president for global licensing and new business development in Abbott’s pharmaceutical products group, was the afternoon keynote speaker at the Chicago GSB 2004 Health Care Conference in Chicago November 19. Among Tyrees suggestions were pharmaceutical companies acquiring biotech firms; pharmaceutical companies creating their own biotech capabilities; the development of partnerships between pharmaceutical and biotech companies; and pharmaceutical companies licensing products from biotech firms.

The acquisition model has the potential for the highest impact, Tyree said. However, he warned, the integration of the companies must not crush the entrepreneurial spirit that made biotech so appealing in the first place. You buy it and you leave it alone, he said.

 

Jenn Goddu