Upfront

Amgen Supports STEM Education

Amgen has become a pilot partner of STEMissaries, along with Science from Scientists (SfS), a nonprofit dedicated to empowering youth to remain competitive in emerging STEM fields. Together, Amgen, Amgen Foundation, and SfS are partnering on the STEMissaries program to support the positive impact that a hands-on approach to science-related curricula can have to transform elementary and middle school students’ perspectives on STEM.

Amgen staff members volunteer to teach in classrooms to give insight to their experience in the STEM field and the type of work they do day to day. With guidance from SfS, Amgen volunteers create unique lessons featuring topics based on company-specific innovation. Amgen staff are then trained by SfS scientists on how to present these lessons in a compelling way that both teaches and inspires young children.

Drug Development Outsourcing Outpaces Internal Spending

Drug sponsors spend more on CROs to help develop new medicines than they do on internal staff and infrastructure, but outsourcing practices remain inconsistent and highly customized, inviting inefficiency and unsystematic management practices, according to an analysis recently completed by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

Study initiation cycle time is 77 days faster for CROs identifying and managing new investigative sites, compared with studies managed directly by drug sponsors, according to Tufts CSDD.

Other findings:

Sponsors spent an estimated $86 billion on all contracted R&D services during 2018, surpassing internal staff and infrastructure spending by nearly $20 billion.

Although current oversight processes have largely been in place for more than three years, only one-third of companies believe these processes are well established and only one in five companies rate these processes highly effective.

Oversight of CROs falls largely to project and clinical operations teams.

AbbVie to Fund Construction of School in North Chicago

A proposed replacement of North Chicago’s only middle school is in the works through a $40 million donation from North Chicago-based biopharmaceutical company AbbVie. The project is still in its planning stages, but the goal is to get students in the new building by the beginning of the 2022-23 school year.(PV)

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Awards…

Amgen Exec Named to Black Enterprise’s Most Powerful Women List
Black Enterprise, a business, investing and wealth-building resource for African Americans, has selected Cynthia Patton, Amgen’s senior VP and chief compliance officer, for inclusion in the 2019 Black Enterprise Most Powerful Women in Corporate America feature. Black Enterprise notes that the women on this list have succeeded by leading with performance, deeply understanding their company culture, deftly navigating the corporate landscape and — above all — wisely wielding their power to determine their own destiny.

Baxter Honored as a Top Company for Executive Women
Baxter International has been named one of the 2019 NAFE Top Companies for Executive Women by the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE). This recognition highlights the company’s efforts to advance women in leadership and foster an inclusive and diverse culture. The NAFE list recognizes U.S. companies with an emphasis on best practices that demonstrate effectiveness in moving women to senior positions, including mentorship and sponsorship programs, employee-resource groups and leadership development training.

Lilly Named One of the World’s Most Ethical Companies
Ethisphere announced its 13th Annual World’s Most Ethical Companies list and one biopharmaceutical company made the list — Eli Lilly and Company. Ethisphere ranks companies based on ethics and compliance programs, culture of ethics, corporate citizenship and responsibility, governance, and leadership and reputation.

PPD Honored for Excellence in Employee Learning and Development
PPD has been named to Training magazine’s 2019 Training Top 125 list recognizing excellence in employee learning and development. This marks the eighth consecutive year PPD has been named to the magazine’s list of top 125 businesses. The Training Top 125 is determined by evaluating companies that demonstrate measurable results in achieving business goals advanced by effective employee learning and development initiatives.

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PharmaVOICE 100 News

Sunovion Appoints Dr. Antony Loebel CEO

Sunovion Pharmaceuticals has appointed Antony Loebel, M.D., to the role of president and CEO. Dr. Loebel, formerly executive VP, chief medical officer, head of global clinical development for Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Group, succeeds Nobuhiko Tamura, who has served as Sunovion’s executive leader since 2014.

Dr. Loebel joined the company in 2007. His prior industry experience includes seven years in senior leadership roles at Pfizer. Dr. Loebel currently serves on the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) BioMedical Advisory Council and was previously a member of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio) Board of Directors.
Dr. Lobel is a PharmaVOICE 100 — 2016.

Proximity Health Solutions Launches

Leveraging 20-plus years of grass roots marketing experience, access to 20,000 local venues and community thought leaders, Proximity Health Solutions (PHS) has launched as a clinical trial recruitment company.

“At Proximity Health Solutions we apply a unique approach that converges local influencers and thought leaders with local investigators to build relationships with patients," says Vera Rulon, PHS’s chief content officer.

Ms. Rulon is a PharmaVOICE 100 — 2015.

Eversana Names Greg Skalicky Chief Revenue Officer

Greg Skalicky has been appointed chief revenue officer of Eversana.
Most recently he served as chief commercial officer, chief enterprise business officer, executive VP and general manager at InVentiv Health, where he successfully managed business units and teams of several thousand employees.

Joining Mr. Skalicky at Eversana are Tim Guttman, chief financial officer, and Mark MacNaughton, chief information officer, who bring a combined 80 years of life-sciences expertise to the company.

Mr. Skalicky is a PharmaVOICE 100 — 2016.

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Woman of the Week

February
Amy Cueva, Founder & Chief Experience Officer, Mad*Pow
Georgia Mitsi, Ph.D., Senior Director, Search & Evaluation, Digital Healthcare, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals

Helen Torley, M.B. Ch. B., President and CEO, Halozyme
Colleen Carter, Marketing & Business Development, Fingerpaint

Please go to https://www.pharmavoice.com/wow-podcasts to listen.

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Contributed Articles

INKmune; A New Treatment for Residual Disease in Cancer Patients
Provided by: INmuneBio

Drug Development Innovation: Increasing the Likelihood of Drug Launch and Market Access with Real-World Data Studies
Provided by: Parexel

Podcasts

2019 Key Opinion Leader (KOL) Planning: What Weren’t You Thinking?
Sponsored by: Avant Healthcare