10
Aug
2015
‘Pharmaphobia’ Pushes Back Against Anti-Industry Crusade, But Comes Up Short
Piles of books, journal articles, and newspaper exposes have been written about corrupt relationships between drug companies and physicians. The attacks have taken a toll. Big Pharma’s reputation is somewhere in the gutter with Big Tobacco. While I see much admirable public-service journalism in exposing wrongdoing in science and medicine, this result strikes me as an overreaction. Pharma and biotech companies often... Read More
31
Jul
2015
Join Me for TR Subscriber Meetup Aug. 5 in Kendall Square
I’m traveling to Boston next week — let’s meet up at a Kendall Square watering hole. TR subscribers are welcome to stop by for happy hour from 5-7 pm on Wednesday Aug. 5 at Meadhall, 4 Cambridge Center. No tickets are necessary, and whatever you want to eat or drink you can get at the bar. I’m just eager to... Read More
27
Jul
2015
Bad Behaviors Creeping Into Biotech During the Boom
Bad behaviors tend to spread like wildfire during boom times. Lots of people rush into the market and try to strike while the iron is hot. I’ve seen it happen before as a reporter in the dotcom days, and I’m seeing it happen again. I’ll leave it to others to ask whether we are in a bubble, which I find... Read More
24
Jul
2015
The Amgen Seattle Alumni: Where Are They Now?
One year ago, Amgen said it was shutting down R&D operations in Washington. This was not an ordinary mass layoff. Amgen’s cost-cutting move freed up 660 people in the Seattle biotech cluster, many of whom had rare and valuable skills gained while working on successful drugs like Enbrel and Xgeva. These people had good pay, good benefits, and a beautiful... Read More
21
Jul
2015
The Non-Compete Chill Has Passed: Bristol-Myers, MedImmune Settle Over I-O Star
There’s good news today for the biotech labor market. AstraZeneca’s MedImmune biologics unit said today that David Berman has joined the company as a senior vice president and head of its Oncology Innovative Medicines unit (iMED). Berman spent the previous decade at Bristol-Myers Squibb, becoming a key player inside the company during its rise to prominence in the hot field... Read More
7
Jul
2015
Pay Cut? That’s OK: Wall Street Veterans Find New Purpose in Biotech
Last month, I wrote about how Big Pharma executives are migrating into biotech like wildebeest across the Serengeti. They aren’t the only big game animals moving in this direction. More than a dozen well-known Wall Street investment bankers and analysts, in the last couple boom years, have quit to join biotech companies. This isn’t exactly unprecedented. The CEOs of Amgen... Read More
2
Jul
2015
Q&A With Shire CEO Flemming Ornskov on Becoming More ‘Biotech-Like’
Shire has been around for almost 30 years, and last year was probably its biggest in the news. The narrative wasn’t about drugs that help people, but was about corporate tax-avoidance. North Chicago, Ill.-based AbbVie bid $54 billion to acquire U.K.-based Shire, at least partly to re-incorporate in Britain and avoid U.S. taxes through an “inversion.” Public opposition emerged, the... Read More
29
Jun
2015
LinkedIn Is Integral to Biotech, But Some Still Don’t Get It
The sci-fi writer William Gibson once said, “The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.” That rings true with LinkedIn, at least in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. Some of the most powerful and best-connected people in the business gathered last week in Greece for the annual private summit organized by industry legend Stelios Papadopoulos. This is... Read More
25
Jun
2015
The Cubist Alumni: Where Are They Now?
Cubist Pharmaceuticals was a rare company. It found a way to succeed when the prevailing market winds were blowing in its face. When Big Pharma companies abandoned the field of antibiotics, complaining about regulatory and reimbursement challenges, Cubist stuck to its guns. The Lexington, MA-based company, founded in 1992, grew to be the largest independent developer of antibiotics in the... Read More
8
Jun
2015
Bristol-Myers Should Drop the Bully Act. Non-Competes Are Bad for Biotech
Big Pharma talent has been migrating to biotech startups the past couple years, and that’s good. Lots of people with skills and rare experience are being matched with exciting new opportunities. This dynamic labor market is healthy for the industry, and increases its ability to create innovative healthcare products. Foolishly, some company had to try to squash all that.
1
Jun
2015
Big Pharma Talent Is Flocking to Biotech Startups. Nobody’s Saying ‘Are You Nuts?’
Look at some of the high-science, high-risk, venture-backed companies in biotech and you’ll see something that wasn’t so common five years ago. The management teams of these startups are often stacked with people who quit high-paid, high-powered jobs in Big Pharma. Last week, the cancer immunotherapy startup Juno Therapeutics poached a chief scientific officer, Hyam Levitsky, from Roche. Microbiome drugmaker... Read More
26
May
2015
Long-Term Relationships May Not Count in Many Businesses, But They Do in Biotech
Cynicism runs through just about every business, if you read the news or follow pop culture. The Netflix show “House of Cards” portrays dirty politics of Washington, D.C. A new “Entourage” movie delves into Hollywood manipulation. Prosecutors in real life last week showed traders cackling about rigging interest rates that harm millions of people, so they can sail away on... Read More
22
May
2015
The Genentech Alumni: Where Are They Now?
Genentech is almost 40 years old, and still has spring in its step. Through ups and downs, the company has never stopped attracting first-rate talent, and still develops people with the itch to do big things in healthcare. Last week, a trio of Genentech veterans came together to start a neuroscience company called Denali Therapeutics that raised initial financing of... Read More
27
Apr
2015
It’s Time to Re-Think How We Train and Develop Biomedical Scientists
A strange feeling hit me the other day at one of the world’s great biomedical research centers. There I was, at the end of a long table at MIT, surrounded by two dozen young researchers. While munching sandwiches over the lunch hour, they fired away with questions about the biotech industry. It was a great back-and-forth. The questions were sharp... Read More
15
Apr
2015
Who Should Biotech Pros Follow on Twitter?
Many people in biotech are still afraid of Twitter, even as it has accumulated more than 280 million users. Drug companies want to advertise to patients and doctors on social media, but they’re afraid the FDA will slap them for misleading promotions. They want to engage with investors, but they’re afraid someone (rightly or wrongly) will question their clinical trial... Read More
13
Apr
2015
The Big Boys Love Kendall Square. Let’s Hope They Don’t Squeeze The Life Out of It
Something magical has been happening in Cambridge’s Kendall Square for years. All kinds of biotech companies, big and small, have thrived on it. Now the big guys have to be careful not to squeeze the life out of it. The biotech real estate market in Kendall Square is about as hot as it gets. Genzyme is building a new headquarters along... Read More
26
Mar
2015
See the Photos: Timmerman Report West Coast Launch Party
Entrepreneurs know what it’s like to dream big and take risk, so they naturally tend to support people who do the same. For that, I’m immensely thankful. I was blown away, and humbled, by the words of encouragement I heard last week at the Timmerman Report launch party in my hometown of Seattle. There was a great mixed crowd of... Read More
23
Mar
2015
Company Subscriptions: You Asked, and You Will Get
Timmerman Report is off to a fast start, more than halfway to the 1-year goal on subscriptions in the first six weeks. Subscriptions, at $99 a year for individual professionals, are rolling in every day. But one thing I’ve consistently heard is that many companies don’t want to buy subscriptions one at a time. So based on popular demand, I’m... Read More
23
Mar
2015
Salaries are Inching Up in the Biotech Boom, Not Booming
If you think people and companies make rational economic decisions in their own self-interest, then you probably reason this must be a great time to be a worker in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. Biotech stocks are way up, investment is flowing, and good new drugs keep hitting the market. As the economic tide rises, logic says companies will compete... Read More
3
Mar
2015
Come Celebrate at the Timmerman Report Launch Party
Timmerman Report turned on the lights one month ago. Thanks to you and many other subscribers like you, it’s off to a terrific start. Now it’s time to celebrate. Please mark your calendars for 4 pm Friday, Mar. 20 at the Agora Conference Center at 1551 Eastlake Avenue East in Seattle. This will be a free gathering to thank the... Read More