Just another short season in the pharmaceuticals trade, with rumors of mergers, talks about mergers, and actual mergers dominating the thoughts of everyone in the industry, from scientists to sales staff. Indeed, nobody connected with the drug business, from large multinationals to start-up biotechnology firms, is immune from the rumor mill or the actuality of acquisition.
For scientific personnel, all the activity begs the obvious question: Will the current merger frenzy reduce the amount of research and development in the drug industry, and thus jeopardize their careers? After all, mergers are designed to reduce overhead. One way of achieving that goal is to consolidate the R&D labs of merger participants.
PRODUCTS WANTED: Mergers create a need for blockbuster products, which require a major R&D effort, says Steven Grossman. Nobody doubts that this will inevitably happen in some cases. However, analysts consulted by The Scientist assert that the medium-term effect of ...
