Life Science Leader,
May 2013
Written by: Kate Hammeke, Director of Marketing Intelligence, Nice Insight

At a time of year when flu season is usually winding down, news of a new form of bird flu has emanated from China. The strain was identified as H7N9, which had not been found in humans before. However, it took the lives of two Shanghai residents in late March. Initially, H7N9 was thought to be a low pathogenic strain that was not easily transmitted between humans.
Read More

Life Science Leader,
April 2013
Written by: Kate Hammeke, Director of Marketing Intelligence, Nice Insight

Historically, the prevailing dosage form for small molecule drugs has been the oral solids. They are cost effective, have a proven safety and efficacy record over the course of more than a century, and from a consumer perspective, the familiarity of this form promotes patient compliance. But while tablets are still the most popular means for taking medicine, current industry information indicates that a significant portion of new chemical entities present solubility challenges, forcing developers to look at alternatives more frequently.
Read More

Chemical Information Services, March 2013
Written by: Kate Hammeke, Director of Marketing Intelligence, Nice Insight

Since its inception, the primary goal of Nice Insight’s Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Outsourcing Survey has been to optimize collaborations between CROs/CMOs and sponsor organizations. The benefits of improved collaborations play out in many forms, and offer advantages every step of the way—from reduced costs, improved staff efficiencies and increased shareholder value all the way to more affordable medicines for consumers. Outsourcing Insights has been a platform for Nice Insight to share some simple strategies on how to get the best results from an outsourcing relationship, whether that relationship is tactical, with a preferred vendor or strategic partnership. Each of these different types outsourcing relationships has its merits, and, not surprisingly, most sponsor organizations engage CROs that fall into each category—only 5% of respondents stated all of the CROs they work with are strategic partners.
Read More

Life Science Leader,
CRO Leadership Awards supplement issue, March 2013
Written by: Kate Hammeke, Director of Marketing Intelligence, Nice Insight

Last November, Life Science Leader launched the inaugural CMO Leadership Awards. The feedback on that issue was overwhelming. So, it is with much pride that I invite you to enjoy our inaugural CRO Leadership Awards Special Supplement. Both the CRO and CMO awards are data-driven. I had to clarify this recently to a person who contacted me via an email inquiring when the nomination process for these awards beings and ends. So, let me explain how the Leadership Awards are determined, so readers, sponsors and vendors can fully understand the process.
Read More

Life Science Leader, March 2013
Written by: Kate Hammeke, Director of Marketing Intelligence, Nice Insight

The practice of using contract research organizations to conduct clinical trials is continuing to grow in popularity, especially as trials become more complex. Analysts estimate clinical research outsourced to CROs will grow from $31.8B in 2009 to a projected $60.8B by 2016. Beyond reducing sponsors fixed costs, CROs have proven their ability to add value through expertise—from patient recruitment to navigating an increasingly tricky regulatory environment. And at the same time as drug makers have been focusing efforts on reducing the time and expense associated with bringing a new medicine to market, ironically it seems the FDA has been catching some blame for drug development costs increasing.
Read More

Chemical Information Services, February 2013
Written by: Kate Hammeke, Director of Marketing Intelligence, Nice Insight

Each time a medical product or prescription drug recall makes the news headlines we are reminded of the importance of cGMP guidelines. However, they are just that—guidelines. Rather than a set of prescriptive instructions to follow, guidelines allow businesses flexibility to determine the most cost effective means to manufacture a quality product while observing the principles established by the regional governing agencies. This flexibility is essential to the free market, ensuring healthy pricing competition. Yet even with specific instruction, there is room for error.
Read More

Life Science Leader, February 2013
Written by: Kate Hammeke, Director of Marketing Intelligence, Nice Insight

It’s no surprise that cost savings motivate outsourcing. However, the affordability of an individual company’s services does not necessarily ensure it will win a project ahead of costlier competitors. Strategic outsourcing tends to bring various benefits to the sponsor organization beyond cost savings, including the ability to focus on core competencies, increased productivity, and access to additional or specialized scientific expertise. Nice Insight surveyed buyers of CMO services to identify the motivations for engaging contract manufacturers and results showed that the top three reasons for strategic outsourcing are to improve quality (54%), improve time-to-market (49%), and reduce fixed costs (45%).
Read More

Chemical Information Services, January 2013
Written by: Kate Hammeke, Director of Marketing Intelligence, Nice Insight

If one word could sum up the key focus of an industry, that word in the case of drug development would be innovation. Unlike a decade or two ago, when incremental changes through invention or renovation were enough for shareholders to feel confident in earnings and security in the pipeline, current pressures for profitability present the need for substantial improvement in terms of streamlining processes, improving technologies, and manufacturing more effective products.
Read More

Life Science Leader, January 2013
Written by: Kate Hammeke, Director of Marketing Intelligence, Nice Insight

In reviewing the past two years of Nice Insight data on outsourcing relationships in the drug development industry, we have noticed some subtle yet important differences in the preferences and behaviors of buyers of outsourced services. For a contract service provider, these variances reiterate the importance of differentiating one’s business from the competition in order to develop strong customer awareness (CA) as well as the importance of targeted marketing that helps to shape prospective and existing customers’ attitude towards the company, or customer perception (CP).
Read More