Google enters healthcare in a big way

 

Google is launching Calico, a new company that will focus on health and aging in particular. The independent firm will be run by Arthur Levinson, former CEO of biotech pioneer Genentech, who will also be an investor. Levinson, who began his career as a scientist and has a Ph.D. in biochemistry, plans to remain in his current roles as the chairman of the board of directors for both Genentech and Apple, a position he took over after its co-founder Steve Jobs died in 2011. In other words, the company behind YouTube and Google+ is gearing up to seriously attempt to extend the human life span.  But it’s a monumental task that’s going to require a ton of money as well as people who understand how consumers view health. 

According to Time “why would Google be able to get traction on aging when huge pharmaceutical companies haven’t?  Page himself doesn’t oversell his knowledge of the industry. “I don’t have as much personal expertise in the technology,” he admits. “I have some knowledge of it, just being in Silicon Valley.   Medicine is well on its way to becoming an information science: doctors and researchers are now able to harvest and mine massive quantities of data from patients. And Google is very, very good with large data sets. While the company is holding its cards about Calico close to the vest, expect it to use its core data-handling skills to shed new light on familiar age-related maladies. Sources close to the project suggest it will start small and focus entirely on researching new technologies. When will that lead to something Google might actually sell? It’s anybody’s guess.” 

While some are viewing this venture with a lot of skepticism I believe the time is right to use technology to both improve healthcare and more importantly lower costs.  The mobile health market is all over the place but physicians seem to be happy using just a few apps to look up drug information.  However a majority of physicians start their search for health information via a search engine.  I have been calling for Google to develop a special search portal for credible health information. 

For consumers the quest to get them to give up their unhealthy lifestyles is going to take a deep rooted effort both on and offline.  There isn’t one tactic that’s going to work to get Americans to give up their over consumption of sugar and saturated fat.  Still this is an exciting effort with a lot of opportunities.  I hope that Calico won’t launch a lot of beta products without doing some market research that leads to an in depth understanding of consumer health behavior.  It’s a challenge but let’s hope Google is in this for the long haul to change health.

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From sales rep to business consultant

 

Healthcare systems arround the world are changing drastically as purse strings are tightened and patients gain greater voice. Pharma companies have taken this on board and are starting to align with their customers, with most moving sales teams into key account management roles or various KAM-type job titles. “But not that many companies are focusing on the skills required to talk to these customers,” says Gary Killington, managing director of PI Partnership.

GSK, Sanofi, AstraZeneca ready to roll out premium-priced flu vaccines

 

Big drugmakers are seeking a boost from new four-in-one influenza vaccines that will be available for the first time this flu season.

Offering more protection to patients, the new quadrivalent vaccines provide a route to premium pricing that could improve margins and profits in a highly competitive market. 

Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca all have products ready to tap the new opportunity, while Novartis is lagging behind its rivals. Until now, seasonal flu vaccines have only protected against three strains of flu - two strains of influenza A, which usually causes more cases and more severe illness, and one of influenza B, which is less common but also circulates in multiple forms.

The new vaccines include protection against a second strain of influenza B, which experts expect will prevent the vast majority of type B infections. 

Sanofi chief says Genzyme purchase paid off

 

The Boston Globe | Robert Weisman  

 

CAMBRIDGE — Two and a half years after buying local biotech Genzyme Corp. for $20.1 billion, Sanofi SA’s chief executive said Wednesday that the deal has paid off handsomely for his company, sparking a business surge that has added $40 billion to the international pharmaceutical giant’s market value. 

Christopher A. Viehbacher, in town for Thursday’s opening of Sanofi’s global cancer research center at 640 Memorial Drive, said the Genzyme acquisition proved to be a “crystallizing moment” for the French drug maker. Genzyme has been among the fastest growing parts of Sanofi, with sales increasing 25.5 percent in the first half of 2013. 

With $29B in deals so far, 2013 shaping up as big M&A year

 

With Valeant Pharmaceuticals forking over $8.7 billion for eye-care giant Bausch + Lomb and Amgen's  $10.4 billion deal for Onyx Pharmaceuticals this could be a comeback year for pharma M&A, even as the drug approval rate remains healthy. 

According to a new half-year review from EvaluatePharma's EP Vantage, there was $29 billion worth of deals in the first half of 2013. Author Lisa Urquhart points to the Valeant deal and Actavis'  $8.5 billion acquisition of Warner Chilcott  as the key deals of the 6-month period. If the pace continues, she says, 2013 could have its best year since 2010, although a far cry from 2009, when there were 170 deals worth $152 billion. There actually have been more deals by number each year since 2009, but values have been far less. There were 183 deals announced last year, but they were worth only $43 billion, the report points out.