BIOPHARMA
keted by Hoechst Marion Roussel
as Seldane, the first non-sedating
antihistamine. After facing a
crisis due to the bioactivation
of terfenadine, which worked
quickly to form fexofenadine but
caused adverse cardiovascular
effects in vivo, scientists at HMR
realized that fexofenadine could
be marketed as a drug in its own
right. The substance was brought
to the market as Allegra in 1996,
the year before Seldane was
pulled from shelves.
In order for “thinking differently”
to happen, management must convey that there is opportunity for
innovative thinking and new ideas
to be brought to the table. Consider what happens to someone who
brings new thinking or innovative
ideas to the company: are they rewarded or thwarted? Is “
thoughtful risk taking” encouraged and
supported across the organization
for key learnings brought to the
organization without the fear of
consequences of failure?
Two important considerations for
thinking differently:
• What channel exists for individuals to bring to new ideas and new
thinking about in the organization, or its products to the table for
consideration?
• Are people able to carve out time
from their day-to-day responsibilities in order to think differently
and be innovative?
2. How we are collaborating?
How can new ideas or innovation
be implemented to make a differ-
ence in the company’s productivity
if the innovation is not embraced
by all the functions that would be
necessary to make it happen? Even
if new ideas and new thinking are
encouraged, is it likely that a new
idea can come to fruition if there
isn’t a collaborative effort across
functional teams? A company
needs to consider whether there is
an appreciation and an adequate
understanding of the roles and
contributions of one functional
area to the other in order to bring
a new idea to reality. What level
of trust exists between functional
groups? Has the organization de-
fined or enabled the development
of common goals, rewards, and
consequences? If part of bringing a
new idea to fruition involves exter-
nal partners and alliances, has the
organization established shared
goals, rewards and consequences
with them?
At SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals in the mid-90’s, a
new high dose formulation of
amoxicillin-clavulanic acid was
developed in response to increasing global rates of Streptococcus pneumonia to beta-lactate
antibiotics. A well-coordinated,
collaborative effort and the cross-functional commitment of resources from marketing, medical,
R&D and regulatory functions,
as well as the input of external
infectious disease experts, generated an option to address a
rising global concern. In addition
to this contribution, the potential
consequence of declining product
usage was addressed.
3. How are we operating?
Executing on ideas or innovative
thinking will require translating
them into collaborative and rigorous operating plans. Just like any
other effort in the organization,
there should be a systematic way to
measure and track actions as well
as communicate progress. If you
don’t have a plan of execution, the
idea will remain an idea and never
become a project or a product. A
reward or recognition system that
considers innovation as a measure
of leadership or achievement in
the organization can help to make
innovative thinking and planning
a priority rather than an afterthought.
In an effort to make innovative
thinking part of the organization,
companies may recognize that
they need to consider more than
functional skills when hiring. In
fact, the organization may want to
assess whether they have the right
people—people with the right
values, goals and motivation to
think differently, and the ability to
collaborative to bring innovative
ideas to fruition.
Alexion, number 3 in Forbes’
ranking of 2015 of the World’s
Most Innovative Companies, describes its corporate culture, and
the people it is looking to hire:
“We’re looking for people to join
our team who challenge conventional thinking, collaborate to
solve complex problems, pursue
new challenges and are willing to
be held accountable to the patients they serve.”
