2005 Year In Preview Taren Grom In keeping with PharmaVOICE’s mission of providing insightful and provocative commentary on the business practices, strategies, and services that affect the life cycle of products from molecule through market, it is our pleasure to publish the first annual Year in Preview issue. This first annual Year in Preview issue was inspired by the feedback we received from you, our readers. Over the past several months, many of you expressed interest in learning what trends, challenges, and issues the life-sciences industry will face in the coming year and beyond. To fully explore the themes discussed in the following pages, we have departed from our standard editorial format for this special year-end issue. PharmaVOICE thanks the more than 100 industry leaders from a variety of companies and sectors — analysts, advertising agencies, biopharma, biotech, clinical services, consulting, diagnostics, drug development, economic development boards, emerging pharma, information technology, medical education, patient education, pharmaceutical, public relations, service, specialty pharma, technology, and more — who took the time to provide their thoughts on 20 areas of importance for this unique Forum. Overwhelmingly, our thought leaders identified four common themes that the industry needs to address: evaluate/change the current pharmaceutical company business model, improve the drug-development process and breakdown clinical-trial obstacles, improve the industry’s image to all stakeholders, and improve shareholder value. These are not disparate concepts; they are inextricably intertwined. Experts anticipate that as improvements are made in one area, a domino effect will ensue, thus having a positive impact on all functional areas. In these challenging economic times, all agree that there is a greater need for all areas of operations to share information, in effect breaking down the silos. And only through true internal, and external, partnerships will processes improve. As Pat Barrett, VP of Integic Corp., summarizes, “The next generation of blockbusters is diminishing. Patent expirations are looming. For 10% revenue growth, a major pharma company must bring three new drugs to market each year. Because of these issues, as well as the move toward more targeted drugs against specific medical conditions, the No. 1 issue will be pressure on R&D to produce new drugs to bring to market to meet the revenue growth expected by investors. This will require more clinical trials and a need for increased efficiency of the process … so solutions that increase standardization, automation, and visibility will be hot topics …” In 2005, PharmaVOICE’s editors look forward to examining the issues identified in the following pages in more detail, and as always, we encourage you to provide us with your feedback. “Read. Think. Participate.” is more than a tag line for the publication; it is the core of our philosophy. PharmaVOICE also looks forward to further addressing the needs of our readers through new products and services. In 2005, we will relaunch pharmavoice.com. Our updated community-portal Website will include a roster of new features, such as searchable content, online versions of the current issue, interactive opinion polls, and group discussion boards. PharmaVOICE also is launching WebLinx Interactive WebSeminars, permission-based marketing opportunities that unite service providers and their clients in an online medium. As an extension to our print Forum, PharmaVOICE will begin hosting a series of live, in-person executive-level events. Also to keep our finger on the pulse of the industry, we will initiate a series of sponsored e-surveys. All of us at PharmaVOICE look forward to sharing these exciting opportunities with you in 2005, and we wish you a prosperous new year. Taren Grom Editor
