07.21.14
Headquarters: Brentford, Middlesex, UK
twitter.com/GSK
www.gsk.com
TOP SELLING DRUGS
The past few years have been good for GSK, which boasts a record number of new drug approvals. However, they haven’t been without their challenges. Last month, GSK received a Warning Letter from FDA for some problems with cGMPs at its flu vaccine manufacturing plant in Ste. Foy, Quebec. The company continues to investigate allegations of physician bribery and worse, which began in China two years ago, but have since extended to other parts of the world.
GSK leaders have reportedly pledged to stop paying outside doctors to promote its products and end other incentives, and plan to step up recruitment of in-house physicians by up to 20%.
These goals jibe well with the company’s overall goal of increasing transparency. GSK has made great progress in creating a more transparent culture, and has led the industry in improving patient access to medicines, as measured by Wim Leereveld’s Access to Medicines index. The new index will be released later this year, but GSK has held the number one position for several years.
The company has committed to make more of its clinical research data transparent. In 2013, GSK publicly supported the AllTrials campaign, and became the first company to commit to publishing detailed clinical study reports for its medicines. The company also launched an online system allowing researchers access to anonymous patient level data from clinical trials.
To avoid any suggestions of conflicts of interest, company managers plan to stop direct payments to healthcare professionals for speaking engagements and for attendance at medical conferences, and to separate sales team remuneration from prescription generation.
In the past few years, GSK has begun to insource, or take more key operations back inhouse, to help simplify its supply chain. It has also sold off some product lines that didn’t seem to fit, including anticoagulants and consumer healthcare drinks.
CEO Andrew Witty has bucked the industry trend of blaming high drug costs on R&D costs by arguing that R&D needs to become more efficient. The company has also developed some innovative approaches to R&D that appear to be paying off.
Witty was quoted in the UK press as saying that the company’s rate of return on R&D investment has increased by roughy 30% over the past four years because fewer drugs are failing.
GSK has reorganized its research into hubs or centers of excellence called discovery performance units. Each unit is staffed with a crossfunctional team of scientists focusing on one specific research area and functions, like a biotech company.
Making R&D more competitive
Ideas for funding are pitched to a discovery investment board headed by a R&D chief, a biotech CEO, senior public health official, and executives running the company’s discovery, development and business development divisions. Each DPU receives initial funding with additional money coming once project goals are met.
To encourage academic partnerships, the company started a Discovery Fast Track Challenge to help speed the transformation from early stage research into new product development. Scientists submit details on their research and those selected collaborate on early stage research with GSK’s Discovery Partnerships with Academia, to test hypotheses and targets. If they come up with a winning compound, the winning investigators could be offered a formal DPAc partnership and opportunity to work together on the development of a potential new medicine.
Instead of oncology, the company is focusing on vaccine development and other areas, including consumer healthcare. Earlier this year, the company agreed to sell its oncology drug portfolio to Novartis for about $26 billion, receiving control of Novartis’ non-flu vaccine businesses in return. GSK will also be the majority partner in a consumer healthcare venture with Novartis.
Novartis will benefit from GSK’s approvals this year, which include ofatumumab (Arzerra Injection, for intravenous infusion) in combination with chlorambucil, for the treatment of previously untreated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL and trametinib (Mekinist tablets)), and dabrafenib (Tafinlar) capsules, for use in combination in the treatment of metastatic melanoma.
With Theravance, the company has filed for approval of the COPD and asthma inhaler Breo Elliptica (fluticasone furoate/vilanterol). It is also working with J&J to develop new HIV medications.
Results have been mixed for its cardiovascular drugs. So far, darapladib, acquired when it bought Human Genomic Sciences, has failed to show significant benefits in Phase III. The company is now also evaluating losmapimod, which has been developed to help prevent repeat heart attacks.
Operational Excellence and ERP Investments
The company has launched a Major Change program, aiming to improve supply chain processes, manufacturing and R&D. GSK expects to see 1 billion pounds of annual savings by 2016. In 2013, these programs generated 3 billion pounds in savings.
Operational Excellence initiatives launched in 2007 are expected to result in significant savings this year.
GSK is also improving manufacturing and supply efficiency, and has invested in enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, to improve overall efficiency and to allow for better forecasting.
twitter.com/GSK
www.gsk.com
Headcount: | 99,451 | |
Year Established: | 2002 | |
Pharma Revenues: | $41,613 | 1% |
Net Income: | $9,350 | -1% |
R&D BUDGET: | $6,468 | 3% |
TOP SELLING DRUGS
Drug | Indication | 2013 sales | (+/- %) |
Seretide/Advair | asthma, COPD | $9,018 | 5% |
Infanrix | pediatric vaccine | $1,474 | 11% |
Avodart | enlarged prostate | $1,465 | 8% |
Flovent | respiratory | $1,361 | 2% |
Ventolin | asthma | $1,097 | 2% |
Valtrex | herpes virus | $383 | -11% |
The past few years have been good for GSK, which boasts a record number of new drug approvals. However, they haven’t been without their challenges. Last month, GSK received a Warning Letter from FDA for some problems with cGMPs at its flu vaccine manufacturing plant in Ste. Foy, Quebec. The company continues to investigate allegations of physician bribery and worse, which began in China two years ago, but have since extended to other parts of the world.
GSK leaders have reportedly pledged to stop paying outside doctors to promote its products and end other incentives, and plan to step up recruitment of in-house physicians by up to 20%.
These goals jibe well with the company’s overall goal of increasing transparency. GSK has made great progress in creating a more transparent culture, and has led the industry in improving patient access to medicines, as measured by Wim Leereveld’s Access to Medicines index. The new index will be released later this year, but GSK has held the number one position for several years.
The company has committed to make more of its clinical research data transparent. In 2013, GSK publicly supported the AllTrials campaign, and became the first company to commit to publishing detailed clinical study reports for its medicines. The company also launched an online system allowing researchers access to anonymous patient level data from clinical trials.
To avoid any suggestions of conflicts of interest, company managers plan to stop direct payments to healthcare professionals for speaking engagements and for attendance at medical conferences, and to separate sales team remuneration from prescription generation.
In the past few years, GSK has begun to insource, or take more key operations back inhouse, to help simplify its supply chain. It has also sold off some product lines that didn’t seem to fit, including anticoagulants and consumer healthcare drinks.
CEO Andrew Witty has bucked the industry trend of blaming high drug costs on R&D costs by arguing that R&D needs to become more efficient. The company has also developed some innovative approaches to R&D that appear to be paying off.
Witty was quoted in the UK press as saying that the company’s rate of return on R&D investment has increased by roughy 30% over the past four years because fewer drugs are failing.
GSK has reorganized its research into hubs or centers of excellence called discovery performance units. Each unit is staffed with a crossfunctional team of scientists focusing on one specific research area and functions, like a biotech company.
Making R&D more competitive
Ideas for funding are pitched to a discovery investment board headed by a R&D chief, a biotech CEO, senior public health official, and executives running the company’s discovery, development and business development divisions. Each DPU receives initial funding with additional money coming once project goals are met.
To encourage academic partnerships, the company started a Discovery Fast Track Challenge to help speed the transformation from early stage research into new product development. Scientists submit details on their research and those selected collaborate on early stage research with GSK’s Discovery Partnerships with Academia, to test hypotheses and targets. If they come up with a winning compound, the winning investigators could be offered a formal DPAc partnership and opportunity to work together on the development of a potential new medicine.
Instead of oncology, the company is focusing on vaccine development and other areas, including consumer healthcare. Earlier this year, the company agreed to sell its oncology drug portfolio to Novartis for about $26 billion, receiving control of Novartis’ non-flu vaccine businesses in return. GSK will also be the majority partner in a consumer healthcare venture with Novartis.
Novartis will benefit from GSK’s approvals this year, which include ofatumumab (Arzerra Injection, for intravenous infusion) in combination with chlorambucil, for the treatment of previously untreated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL and trametinib (Mekinist tablets)), and dabrafenib (Tafinlar) capsules, for use in combination in the treatment of metastatic melanoma.
With Theravance, the company has filed for approval of the COPD and asthma inhaler Breo Elliptica (fluticasone furoate/vilanterol). It is also working with J&J to develop new HIV medications.
Results have been mixed for its cardiovascular drugs. So far, darapladib, acquired when it bought Human Genomic Sciences, has failed to show significant benefits in Phase III. The company is now also evaluating losmapimod, which has been developed to help prevent repeat heart attacks.
Operational Excellence and ERP Investments
The company has launched a Major Change program, aiming to improve supply chain processes, manufacturing and R&D. GSK expects to see 1 billion pounds of annual savings by 2016. In 2013, these programs generated 3 billion pounds in savings.
Operational Excellence initiatives launched in 2007 are expected to result in significant savings this year.
GSK is also improving manufacturing and supply efficiency, and has invested in enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, to improve overall efficiency and to allow for better forecasting.