Fred Hassan: In The Flesh
5 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // July 25th, 2007 // 3:18 pm
Well, the Schering-Plough ceo was wearing a white shirt and tie when he stopped by to chat this afternoon. The occassion? Fred and two lieutenants rode into Newark, NJ, to get warm and fuzzy with editorial writers and pharma beat reporters at The Star-Ledger of New Jersey (which owns Pharmalot, in case you forgot). For those not familiar with this rite, the session gives Fred a platform to touch on a few hot-button issues dear to his heart, field some questions and ignore stale pastries. Here are some of his choicest comments….
On the FDA: “It needs a lot of support. It’s still America’s crown jewel. They have a lot of eminent scientists and when they make decisions on certain things, the rest of the world notices and pretty much follows…But you have an atmosphere where people are worried and nervous about being criticized. So it’s very easy for an (FDA) official to ask for more data…And so there’s a delay, costs go up and, ultimately, this is paid for by society. We have to have an open debate….When the cost of R&D becomes so high, industry looks very risky to investors and that’s when the innovation premium starts to go away.”
On compliance: “We take pride in the fact that we were the first company to have a solid compliance team…and it reports directly to the ceo…There are no secrets to hide. We’re going to have an open system…Look, you can try to reduce the probability of these accidents, or whatever you want to call them. In the end, you’re dealing with human beings and you’re never sure everyone has the same values. It’s a very tough environment, you can’t make sure everybody has the right values and culture.”
On patents: “It’s better to protect the (intellectual) property rights of those who are the innovators…Once you start breaking IP rights, where do you stop? The GDP (gross domestic product) of a nation is $3,000 and you say, Ok. And the country with $7,000 says it’s my turn. And it goes on and on. But industry has to do a better job of making drugs accessible and working on health prevention….Every country is a dialogue. (Asked about Abbott’s decision to threaten Thailand by withholding new drugs if Bangkok breaks a patent on its AIDS drug, Hassan says…) That’s rather harsh. Why would you want to deprive people of new drugs?”
On SiCKO: “It’s very entertaining movie. It’s says very good things about the health care systems in other countries, but all countries have their challenges. But I don’t get emotional over these things…..Yes, I saw it in a regular movie theatre.”
Connie Lowy
Fred likes “Sicko”!
Hank
yatayata
Chris
What should we expect him, or any other CEO to say? He inherited one monumental a mess at Schering-Plough and the fines that were imposed were results of previous regimes. S-P needed a compliance overhaul and it got one, as well as many other necessary overhauls. Give him time - it seems that his long term plan may be working.
Dr. I. M. Madd
Were his lieutenants two of his burly bodyguards protecting him from animal rights activists, angry former Pharmacia employees, disgruntled current and former Schering-Plough employees, or Pfizer “hitmen” after him because of the misdeeds of his marketing team at Pharmacia that alledgedly promoted growth Hormone out-of-label and left Pfizer with a $200 million dollar fine?
Let’s ask the opinion of Dr. Peter Rost, who delineates much of the Pharmacia mess under the above CEO in his book. GH for anti-aging effects? C’mon! Are we foolish enough to believe that all of the leopards have suddenly changed their spots? SP is run by former Pharmacia muckity-mucks!
I really would like to believe this CEO is an honest man. At least, he and his cronies always talk a good game at employee gatherings. It’s too bad they don’t walk the talk. If the above CEO isn’t asleep and totally oblivious to the activities at SP, the only pride that he could possibly have in his compliance team is that they successfully work with his legal team to sweep dirt under the carpet, hide skeletons in the closet, and bury bodies in the backyard. There are plenty of hidden secrets at SP and all one has to do to find them is to start looking through their records on physician-related expenses. The events that happen are not accidents, but very often very dirty plans developed by the marketing teams right under the CEO’s nose in Kenilworth.
I don’t think that the above CEO is going to be willing to wake up soon or become more aware of the activities, so only the government will do that. Hopefully sooner rather than later!
Donny Olson
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