Big Pharma conclude M&A is not the new R&D

World leaders meet at the illustrious NGP Summit in Florida to face up to economic woes.

With large firms seeking synergies to drive down R&D costs, M&A deals can aid in the transfer of technical knowledge, scalability and reduce time to market. However, previous M&A periods have not alleviated the productivity crisis. While short term gains emerge from these deals, in the mid to long term, R&D innovation, organic growth, and internal drivers are still key facet’s behind creating a successful company and providing an organization with sustainability.

The debate rages on at the NGP Summit (currently being held in Florida) where visionaries such as Jeffery Nye, Chief Medical Officer at Johnson & Johnson, Reinilde Heyrman—VP of Clinical Development at Daiichi Sankyo, Oscar Laskin—VP of Early Development at Celgene are leading the debate, joined by Ann Wang—VP of Clinical Operations at Human Genome Sciences who have recently seen a surge of 277 % in their stock price owing to the continuing success of their ‘Benlysta’ drug.

The NGP Summit clearly illustrates that the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry is in a state of transition. M&A, reorganization, consolidation, and portfolio changes are being evaluated in order to maintain growth centers in the face of a myriad of serious challenges. Companies such as Millipore, Definiens and PPD were called by the committee to share their thought leadership amongst over fifty of the worlds ‘big Pharma’ leaders.

“The willingness for the industry to unite in such a way clearly demonstrates long-term strategies for improved business processes so long-term investment in R&D can be secured”. Drew Contessa – NGP Director

Various economic pressures have triggered yet another wave in M&A deals in the industry as companies seek to bring in new assets, capabilities and infrastructures and redesign their organizations going forward. But is this sustainable for long-term growth? The fifty strong committee are set to rejoin at the NGP in April 2010 to review.

Karl Rove speaks up for the American people

Former Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush unites industry at the NG O&G Summit

New Orleans is preparing to welcome the biggest names in Oil when the illustrious Next Generation Oil and Gas Summit comes into town. Key personnel including Commissioner Elizabeth A. Jones and Brian Rovelli - President of Total E&P have confirmed attendance to discuss the US reliance of foreign energy markets, technology investments to improve efficiency, building jobs for the American people, and increasing government interventions on the Energy market.

The U.S. seems to be at the brink of losing manufacturing jobs to India and China and implementation of a near-term energy strategy would send a strong message out. Karl Rove is set to lead the discussion and drive home the need of the American people.

“Americans instinctively understand what too many policymakers ignore. We need affordable and reliable energy to power our economy and provide jobs. Relying more on domestic energy sources and less on those of the Persian Gulf makes us more secure. And while conservation and alternatives are good, America will be better off if markets set energy prices, not government bureaucrats. The challenge is getting lawmakers to embrace what the American people already have.” – Karl Rove (Former Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush).

The summit (now in its third year) has over fifty leaders in attendance and has got the industry waiting with bated breath on the outcomes.

"Karl is pulling the industry together, working to secure domestic growth, We do not want to see legislation transformed into a mechanism for transferring jobs overseas," Will Doll – Director NG O&G.

Business Networking sites see 18% rise in Female members

The largest growing economic force in the world isn't China or India -- it's women, and this is matched with online usage – says Meettheboss.com study.

The largest growing economic force in the world is not China or India it is Women. The earning power of women globally is expected to reach $18 trillion by 2014, a $5 trillion rise according to World Bank estimates. That is more than twice the estimated 2014 GDP of China and India combined. Although the average women still earns only 77 cents for every dollar men do this is set to grow as more and more women are finding themselves in board rooms.

Such career advancement has brought the female workforce online to share ideas and best business practices. MeettheBoss.com (a world leading online business network) has shown an increase of female sign-ups of 18% from this time last year.

“It is fantastic to see so many women embrace the technology and use it to their advantage, every day I see more and more online” Harlan Davies, MeettheBoss director.

MeettheBoss maintains that the site will not be making any changes for the rush of its new female members “The current way companies appeal to women is to take a male product and paint it pink but this is both patronizing and unnecessary, our members are extremely powerful business people and would not rise to such gimmicks”

The site boasts innovative connectivity amongst peers with an internal Video Conferencing tool as well as Instant Messaging, forums, blogs, tweets and up to the minute news fed individually to each user based on their unique business interests. This sophisticated online aggregation has been popular to the sites members and has seen leading business women such as Isabelle M. Conner Global Head of Marketing ING Group, Dr Anne Phillips, Medicine Development Leader, GlaxoSmithKline and Joanna Young Human, SVP, Liberty Mutual take the limelight and give online presentations to the entire community through MeettheBoss TV on their views of best business practices.

Burnt Out Economy finds new life with Green Technology

'Green jobs' are supported by the Senate on the week that Utilities leaders meet to refine operations – But have they missed the Green Rush?


Profits in the Utilities sector have fallen and experts say it may not be until 2011 that any improvements can be seen. Consumer demand has decreased dramatically since the economic crisis first began, as housing and commercial construction markets have seen a severe drop in business. So key visionaries rallied last week at the greatly anticipated NGU Summit to discuss ways in which they can best invest in innovative technologies to secure top-line growth.

Met with a standing ovation, Diane Grueneich – Commissioner, State Of California Public Utilities Commission opened proceedings looking at the implementation of energy efficiency programs and building partnerships nationally and internationally that advance best practices in clean energy and policies to achieve maximum energy savings. Such Green Technology was backed by the senate as a way of bolstering the domestic economy.

“The U.S. is at the brink of losing manufacturing jobs to India and China and implementation of a near-term renewable energy standard would send a strong message and would do the most to boost demand.” Michael Peck, North American spokesman for Gamesa USA

Efficiency on existing distribution networks and the ‘near-term’ transformation to a Renewable network was a key focus throughout the summit with Andres Carvallo – CIO, Austin Energy was joined by Mark Gray – Chief Engineer, AEP, Steven Malnight – VP Renewable Energy, Pacific Gas & Electric, , Ted Schultz – VP Energy Efficiency, Duke Energy, David Mead – VP Engineering & Technical Services, Southern California Edison and Jay Ignacio – President, Hawaii Electric to talk about their thoughts on the consequences of smart energy management, customer-sited solar, energy storage and the technologies that need to be in place to capitalize on the ‘Green Rush’. Thought leadership came from PV Powered, HP, ACCIONA Energy, Itron, Syclo
And Barnard Construction Company, Inc.

"Its great to see the industry work together to secure domestic growth, We do not want to see climate legislation transformed into a mechanism for transferring jobs overseas," Tom Macdonald – NGU US Summit Director
The goal was clear, to invest in a Greener and innovative future in line with Government backing, but can the US Utility sector keep up with the Global ‘Green Rush’ as China and Europe steam ahead? Utility leaders have agreed to reform in Texas May 2010 to review.

Ulitzer Named "New Media" Partner of Greatly Anticipated iStrategy Event in Berlin

SYS-CON-owned Ulitzer has been touted as the ‘Wikipedia Killer' with now over 7,000 authors online sharing news, views and industry trends on the sites' innovative blogging system. Magazines are managed and created on Ulitzer by visionaries of the digital media space, some of which brought the sites attention to the organizers of what is now the most anticipated New Media event to happen next year - The iStrategy 2010 in Berlin.

For more information click here.

The iStrategy program is famed for educating the corporate elite in the relatively infant innovation of Social Media. Such visionaries as Michael Donnelly Group Director Worldwide Interactive Marketing at Coca-Cola, Michael Buck, Global Head , SMB Online Dell and Ralf Ahamer CMO, XING are sharing their successes at the conference in February next year, looking at; ever changing media consumption patterns and the rapid growth of mobile web, social networking, behavioral targeting, vodcasting, email marketing, viral marketing and how their companies have so brilliantly embraced online advancements to bring them closer to the consumer.

"We have over 150 CMOs confirmed for the Berlin Conference, they are all keen to learn what web 2.0 can do for their business, and we are delighted to welcome such a luminary within the digital media space as SYS-CON's Jeremy Geelan." Richard Owen - iStrategy Director.

A new ‘Internet' has been born that can flatten the market place if not managed correctly. New opportunities create greater challenges for any company to stay ahead. Thanks to sites like Ulitzer the corporate world has finally embraced online social media as a real competitive advantage, and the tier ones are now incorporating such initiatives in their 2010 business plans - but who will be left behind?

For more information click here.

Pharmaceutical Industry Set to Emerge as winners in the Healthcare Reform

Pharmaceutical Leaders are set to meet at the anticipated NGP US Summit Next week to discuss reform

Once a powerful profit-machine, big pharma is stumbling ,the threat of further government intervention, drying product pipelines, fierce competition from generic manufacturers, consumer concerns about safety, and false marketing claims is forcing leaders to revisit operations to secure top line Growth. So leaders such as Judith Marquis, Group VP Genzyme, Jeffrey Nye, Chief Medical Officer J&J Pharmaceuticals and James Kirwin VP Global Clinical Operation Wyeth Pharmaceuticals are uniting with over 50 other figureheads at the renowned NGP US Summit next week in Florida to discuss future technology investments to strengthen the industry and improve efficiency to “weather the Healthcare Reform”.

Thomas Haverty – Global VP, Global Clinical Research, Schering-Plough is set to start proceedings and our sources tell us he will be talking about Responding to 21st Century Drug Development Challenge.

“While healthcare reform has dominated headlines, drug companies have come through the debate relatively untouched, but they need to invest wisely to strengthen under the inevitable changes,” Drew Contessa NGP US Summit Director.


The good news for the pharmaceutical industry is that it may emerge as a winner in the healthcare reform battle as new customers enter the system and price protections remain in force.
IMS Health, the drug industry forecasting firm, reports that the global pharmaceutical industry will grow 4% to 6% in 2010, up to $825 billion.

It is not very often that the industries elite meet like this and it is clear that significant changes will be outlined as a result.
For more information www.ngpsummit.com

Gold Medal goes to Latin America

The week that the Olympics welcomed South America as its new home Telecom Heavy-weights announce key meeting in Panama


Latin America is predicted to be the strongest region of growth in 2010, Investment is flooding to the area and telecommunications is essential for the region to fulfill its potential. Backed by Government incentives and commercial opportunities figureheads such as Humberto Roca, CTO , Antel, Israel Madiedo, CTO, Cablevision , Claudio Bermudez, CTO Grupo ICE, Peter Jones, VP Technology, LIME , Miguel Angel Gray , Millicom International Cellular CEO Central America , Robert Masse, CTO Telefonica del Sur (Telsur) and Pedro Planas , CTO LA, Telefonica Media Networks SA have agreed to meet in Panama on November 10th this year at the illustrious NGT Summit to discuss technology investment to support market growth.

‘As Latin America continues its socio-economic Growth, development in ICT clearly sends out the right message to Global investors.’ Paul Southwell – NGT LA Summit Director

Massive investments in 3G has been highlighted as operators will start to see an increase in mobile application use and IPTV may finally take hold. The cost of voice services is at such a low point that voice alone is no longer a viable competitive advantage, operators must improve service levels and delivery methods in order to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Partnering with IDC and Pyramid Research the NGT Summit LA is set to outline the path to success in 2010.

Africa is treated as a ‘Priority Market’ as investment floods in

The continents Telecom giants meet at the renowned NGT to see how their new found wealth could be spent

Chief Executive of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Engr. Ernest Ndukwe has confirmed that telecoms investment in Nigeria in the last eight years has exceeded USD18 billion, and they are not alone as the entire continent is seen as a priority market by the worlds investors. This came to light at the Recent NGT Africa summit lead by Ahmad Farrouk, CEO, MTN Nigeria who addressed the fifty strong Telecom leaders on the Growth potential of Africa’s communication industry, sharing his ideas on the importance of deploying networks in rural communities in order to connect harder to reach subscribers and increase market growth.

Other visionaries that took part in the elite debate included Sameer Dave, CTO & Chief Executive, MTN SA, Mohammed Sheik, Group Strategy Director, Zain, Mickael Ghossein, CEO, Telkom Kenya and Steve Bailey, CEO, Virgin Mobile SA who came together to unite the industry to capitalize on investor confidence. Innovation was clearly the buzz word during the discussions. Having one of the largest a growth markets in the world is clearly not enough for the developing continent, they want to build a sustainable network, a point clearly made by the Commonwealth Business Council and GSMA at the NGT summit. Such discussion on innovative technologies were lead by giants Microsoft, ITS and HDS who all see Africa as the ‘land of opportunity’ and played a pivotal role in educating the Executives present.

“African Telecom leaders have united this week at the NGT and are really embracing new technologies. Such pioneering development in ICT clearly sends out the right message to Global investors, as the continents ongoing socio-economic development continues to improve”. William Francis Austin – NGT Summit Director
But what is the next step for Africa, is the continent now stable enough to capitalize on its growth potential as Europe and the US become saturated and stagnant? Could an enhanced ICT infrastructure allow Africa to compete with Asia or South America? Only time will tell, such discussions are set to continue throughout the year until they rejoin at the next NGT hosted in Cape Town in June 2010.

Healthcare leaders to bridge gaps in preparation for Obama’s reform

New technology is highlighted to prepare for the Obama Reform ¬ But will it help?


A recent poll shows more than 96% of Healthcare professionals are following Obama’s Reform debate closely. The President’s new ideals for healthcare are clearly a major issue for the industry and many leading professionals are asking the question ¬ Is their business prepared for such change? Increased demand and financial strain are pushing all areas of Healthcare, so efficiencies must be found quickly to stabilize the industry in time for the storm.

At the recent Next Generation Healthcare Summit, such professionals met to find these answers and discuss the potential implications that the new reform will have. The meeting began with Healthcare industry leaders debating issues such as deploying innovative and new technologies to reduce cost and medical errors, hoping to improve top-line growth. Stephen Brown, CIO at Tenet, spoke directly to the group on the importance of Interoperability and Health Information Exchange. The group included other impresarios, such as Dr. Divya Shroff , Associate Chief of Staff, Informatics, for the Department of Veterans Affairs; Dr. Phillip Smith, CMIO of Adventist; Dr. William Bria, CMIO for Shriners Hospital; and Mike Eimer, CIO, Texas Health Resources.

Also present were leading innovators such as Verizon, GE Healthcare, and Sunquest, sharing their advancements in technology and care quality. Dr. William Bria, CIO Shriners Childrens Hospital, followed with a discussion on the historic $19 billion investment provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 set aside for Health Information Technology (HIT), driving home his definition of ‘meaningful use’ improving the processes behind healthcare’s electronic data, an essential tool to modernize the healthcare system in wake of such inevitable change.

³Such a meeting was well overdue, clear strategies must be put in place between all corners of the healthcare industry, such collaboration with new technology will enable Healthcare to work around any future changes that congress wish to announce,² Jaime Martinelli ¬ Director Next Generation Healthcare.


Whether you feel Obama¹s reform will be a positive addition to the Healthcare industry or not, what is for certain is that the industry is subject to a massive change. But will such new technology innovations be enough to prepare the industry for what Obama intends? This will be confirmed at the next meeting set to be held in Dallas next May.

Telecom Giants jump into action at first bell

The European Telecom industry is one of the most competitive in the world. This has been accredited to the affinity between network operators. With a turnover of approximately EURO 290 billion, the industry is constantly growing, but with growth comes new challenges.

A recent challenge facing the industry is its high-profile loss against the EU, having roaming charges cut by up to 400%. The Telecom Industry is big business, and it continues to grow by stepping up and meeting such challenges head-on. As a result, last week, 50 visionaries from leading incumbents and Mobile Operators joined innovators such as Ericsson, Symantec, Volantis and Front Porch to look into ways of developing efficient processes to reduce costs and pass savings on to the consumer.

Moreton Karlsen Sorby, EVP and COO at Telenor Mobile spoke out during his Keynote address at the recent NGT EU summit.

“The Telecom industry will remain fundamentally attractive... With the internet already creating huge waves in the Telecom industry, we expect this to continue, providing the best products and services to the customer.” Moreton continues, “Telecom regulations will be a challenge, but one the industry will endeavour to overcome to the benefit of the consumer. We must remember that the power of the customer will continue to grow and ultimately shape the future of Telecom.”

Another key discussion point covered amongst the 50 industry titans was a debate chaired by Vodafone’s Ger Coolen looking into reducing churn – Service Management Challenges and Effectively Managing SLA’s. “In a highly competitive and saturated market such as Western Europe, reducing churn is one of the few battlefields left to show significant growth.”

“What we in the industry must remember is competition has ultimately raised the standard of service, competition has fast tracked technology and made former monopolies more respondent to the needs of the consumer” Fraser Jameson – Director – NGT Summit.

With countless alternative service offerings around the traditional voice tariffs, in particular wireless broadband, the playing field has been leveled, but who will come out on top?