It’s no surprise people don’t like drug companies — between high prices, corporate shenanigans and side effects scandals, the industry hasn’t done itself any favors.

NYT Unintentionally Gives the Drug Industry a Reality Check | BNET Pharma Blog

That’s right.  According to a post on KevinMD.com, the ban on pharma gifts to physicians in some states has contributed to some being carded for admittance to CME dinners and other events.  See full post here.

In the May 2008 issue of Harvard Business Review, retired GlaxoSmithKline CEO Jean-Pierre Gamier recommends drug companies dramatically alter their research models.  Many companies still operate under a “pyramid” setup, with scientists cubbyholed in their areas ol expertise. “Something happened on the way to the new century,” Gamier writes. “Employment multiplied by 20. The pyramid became a monster, and everything suffered,” Instead of resorting to radical outsourcing, Gamier suggests building “constellations” of small, independent research units. Glaxo now has 12 research centers focused on disease areas, each with its own CEO, and there are no more than three management layers between the chief and key scientists.

Via BusinessWeek 15-SEP-08