The ceo was interviewed by Newsweek, which ran a brief question-and-answer piece. Here are a few excerpts, with remarks from Pharmalot:

Newsweek: What’s surprised you most about being a ceo?
Kindler: The job is much more complicated and broad than I even imagined. The range of stakeholders in an enterprise like this is just extraordinary, whether it’s investors, customers, employees, government officials, patients or the public.
Pharmalot: This is a bit hard to believe, given that Kindler aggressively lobbied Pfizer board members for the ceo job, which is a no-no. Someone must have warned him, right? Besides, he’s no dope.

Newsweek: Is it hard for someone who’s not a physician or a scientist to run the biggest pharmaceutical company on the planet?
Kindler: It certainly presents challenges. I like to think my training and my background have taught me a couple of things that are useful in any job of this nature.
Pharmalot: Of course. This is a highly regulated and litigious industry. His legal background is just what the doctor ordered.

Newsweek: You’ve announced plans to cut 10,000 jobs. How do you convince the remaining employees that Pfizer is a good place to be?
Kindler: It is the single most challenging and important thing that I focus on and worry about.
Pharmalot: This didn’t prevent him from accepting $11 million in compensation last year. Given the dismal example set by his predecessor, agreeing to accept a smaller package might have gone a lot further in restoring morale and showing leadership.

Newsweek: How much is your business, like Hollywood, a hit-driven business, built on blockbuster drugs like Viagra and Lipitor?
Kindler: There’s no question that’s true…The pharmaceutical business has been highly dependent on blockbuster products and probably will be for the foreseeable future.
Pharmalot: The industry has locked itself into this Frankenstein model. Then again, which industry doesn’t want blockbusters? A key issue here is whether big pharma must behave like a Hollywood studio by focusing so much on promotion, and not enough on funding products offering slightly lower returns that, in big pharma’s case, still benefit society.

Newsweek: Has the industry done a good job of justifying the price of prescription medicines?
Kindler: No, the polling is very clear that the public doesn’t accept that proposition…So we need to do a better job of communicating. But we also have to recognize that there is a fundamental societal issue here—the affordability of medicine, both of individuals to afford medicine and of society to pay for its health-care system—that we in the pharmaceutical industry have to be a part of solving.
Pharmalot: Communicating is not an industry strong point. One suggestion: limit any price hikes to the inflation rate. And stop trying to scare the American public with threats they may get killed by purchasing drugs from Canada. Even if there is evidence to suggest it can happen, the approach comes off as if industry is berating its own customers.

Newsweek: What’s your advice to young leaders in businesses dealing with government or regulators?
Kindler: You need to think of them as your customers. Now, that doesn’t mean you’re always going to agree with them … But you have to, as you would with any customer, try to understand what they’re trying to achieve. What’s driving them.
Pharmalot: What’s driving government? Hopefully, the ability to provide medicines to those in need at the price that is expected, not concocted average wholesale prices. What’s driving regulators? Hopefully, the desire to ensure the public isn’t getting hurt or ripped off by such activities as off-label marketing.

Newsweek: Has the industry done a good job of justifying its marketing costs?
Kindler: No. One thing that has not been helpful is the way we as an industry—and Pfizer, certainly, is no exception—have done TV commercials. When direct-to-consumer advertising was first permitted, there was a real seriousness about the ads, a real science orientation, a balance about the risks and the benefits. And over time we got a little bit away from that. We’re doing everything we can to rectify that.
Pharmalot: That remains to be seen. Viagra ads, which drew complaints Pfizer was promoting promiscuity, were airing only a few months ago. And Celebrex TV ads are due back shortly, creating an opportunity for Kindler to make good on his word.

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Here is the complete interview, which isn’t terribly long.[tags]Jeff Kindler, Pfizer[/tags]