Word: vasella
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...Vasella, acutely aware that his industry is losing the p.r. battle, believes that proactive concessions will help avert legislative action. Novartis donates antileprosy drugs to India, sells antimalaria drugs at cost to the World Health Organization and has established a research center in Singapore to develop treatments for Third World diseases like tuberculosis, whose sufferers can't pay much. (He is not alone in this. Merck has set up anti-AIDS programs in Botswana, and Aventis is helping tackle AIDS in South Africa.) Eight drug companies, including Novartis, have announced a drug-discount program in the U.S. that they...
...Vasella has also revamped Novartis' marketing force in the U.S., where it long lagged behind competitors. He poached Paulo Costa from Johnson & Johnson in 1999 and made him CEO of Novartis' U.S. drug unit. Since then, Costa's sales force has grown to 5,800 from 2,815. The payoff? Drug sales in the U.S. grew 24% last year...
...been a long day on the 11th floor of the Swiss Center on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Novartis' board of directors has listened to presentations on CIBA Vision's competitive challenges, purchasing and Gerber. Vasella slumps back comfortably in his chair, asking crisp questions. He's the picture of Swiss cool--until he learns that a New York City attorney is "assessing the claims of 300 to 400 possible plaintiffs" who say Novartis' athlete's-foot medicine Lamisil caused them injury. "This is outrageous!" he cries. "It has absolutely nothing to do with right or wrong, just with...
...Vasella points out that bringing a drug to market can take a decade and that the glacial pace of drug development and FDA approval puts companies under tremendous pressure to extend exclusive rights to their drugs. Better, he suggests, to grant a drug market exclusivity for a limited period that starts only after it obtains FDA approval...
That sounds reasonable, like most of what Vasella says. But consider what happened two summers ago, after the Greenpeace protesters unplugged their stereo and took the helicopter home. "I got the impression that after this talk, things moved faster," says Stefan Weber, who had breakfast with Vasella that morning. It's telling, however, that the problem has not yet been solved. There are apparently too many technical difficulties--and too many other companies involved. --With reporting by Odette Frey/Zurich