The value of pharma to biotech
As some of you may know, many biotech companies involved in basic drug research rely on R&D collaborations with big pharma companies to provide the money that is their lifeblood.
Biogen licensed one of its first technologies to pharma companies, which provided a reliable source of revenue that allowed Biogen to continue research on and release Avonex, the world's leading Multiple Sclerosis treatment.
Between 1995 and 2001, according to the
Brookings Institution, pharma companies invested US$3 billion in biotech companies in the San Francisco area. In the Boston area, the number was US$2 billion. And in Ontario? The number was $90
million.
In 2001, the Ontario government set a goal of making the province the #3 biotech region on the continent. But instead of trying to attract further investments in biotech companies by improving the marketplace for pharma companies, they are leaning towards making the environment worse. If they're serious about the value of biotech and their goal of being #3, they need to start doing some serious research into the nature of the industry; when they do that they will finally understand the importance of big pharma and maybe - just maybe - we can start looking at pharmaceuticals and healthcare in a new way.
I won't be holding my breath.
Back to school
Today was the last day of the summer internship for Brian and me. This morning we presented our research to the office, then went for lunch with the gang. It's been really great working with that group of people - just a fantastic experience for so many reasons. I'd always heard about Merck as a great company to work for, and the pride with which Merck employees spoke of their company; now I can see why. Never having worked for a large company before, I couldn't really understand the idea of a "visionary" company that was large and yet still cared for its employees and customers. It's been great to get the chance to work for one such company; I think the experience will be tremendously helpful in my future.
The project we worked on was amazing - I learned more about the biotech industry in 3 months than I ever thought I could, and I feel like I'm more than ready for the biotech stream at Ivey. Heck, I almost feel like I could teach one or two of the courses!
Bombay tragedy
What an absolutely horribly tragedy. Makes me sick how people can feel it's ok - for any reason, I don't care what - deliberately to kill innocent people for their own gain. In this case, it was likely Islamic terrorists upset over the release of the archaeological report, but I wonder if it had anything to do with the recent friendly meeting between representatives of the Indian and Pakistani governments. Terrorists in Lashkar-e-Taiba et al. have no interest in seeing hostilities between those two countries diminish and would likely do anything they can to make sure that the animosity continues. I'm just speculating, of course, but it makes sense to me.
Whether or not that's the case, it's imperative for governments and civil authorities on both sides to try hard to maintain a semblance of calm and rational behaviour. We can't afford to let a few freaks derail what little progress has been made in recent weeks.
Here we go again
In putting together a presentation to summarize my summer project here at Merck, I logged onto Ivey's career web site to see if I could find the job description for my position. While I was there, I noticed a handful of new job postings for permanent, post-graduation placements - all consulting and finance positions.
Now, I've told myself over and over again that I don't want those jobs - I don't want the life that comes with working for a big consulting firm or investment bank (the fact that I likely could not get a job there, anyway, notwithstanding). And yet, as soon as I saw the postings, I felt like I should be applying. I started to get sucked into the whole b-school mentality again of having to work for a big firm right after graduation. I started rationalizing that it would be very good for my career, and the money would be nice, and blah blah blah.
Why do I do this to myself? I should be focusing on finding a good idea for a company to start, not worrying about these job postings. Must refocus!
I finally caved in...
...and bought a book by Peter Drucker. The management guru has been writing for 60 years now, and you can't go long in business school without hearing his name - over and over again. Well, I finally decided I should read something by him. I went to Chapters today actually to buy a book called
Authentic Leadership by Bill George, former chairman and CEO of Medtronic, Inc. It had a pretty good review somewhere online (can't remember where now).
Unfortunately, they didn't have it in stock, and I happened to see a collection of Drucker's writings in a book titled
The Essential Drucker and figured what the hell? I'll let you know how it is.
Ontario's Care-less Health system
I'm not one to bitch about the healthcare system as a rule. I think the doctors and nurses do a bang-up job under very difficult circumstances, and they rightly have the support of the public in their fight for more dollars and resources. But something's happened in the past couple of days to make me start to wonder.
My sister has had tremendous abdominal pains a number of times in the past several weeks, along with vomiting, diarrhea, fever, etc. She initially thought she was getting food-poisoning, but the last time it happened it didn't go away after several hours - it just got worse. She decided to go to the Trillium Health Centre (formerly the Mississauga Hospital), where after several tests they determined that she had
gallstones, and gallstone
pancreatitis.
The doctor at that time told her she would have to have an
ERCP, which is used to find the gallstones and to remove the gallstone blocking the pancreas. Then another doctor came in - a surgeon - and told her she needed surgery to have her gallbladder removed. Apparently there was some dissent as the two doctors could not agree, so the decision was left to her.
After waiting in the emergency ward overnight and through the day Wednesday, she finally was given a room. Shortly thereafter, a doctor came in, told her that the ERCP that had been scheduled for that evening was cancelled, and she was scheduled to have surgery the next day "because the surgeon was free". Needless to say, this is not the best way to put it, even if their intentions were good. She was told that based on blood tests, the gallstone blocking the pancreas had dislodged itself and the pancreas was now properly releasing digestive enzymes into the small intestine, as it should (naturally, they didn't actually explain it like this - I'm inferring based on what they said and what I read on WebMD), but that regardless, surgery was the way to go.
So after much agonizing, consulting people we know who've had the surgery, and lots of research on
WebMD, my sister decided to have the surgery. This morning, she signed the consent form and was told that the surgery would take place sometime after 3 PM. Well, sometime after 3 PM, the doctors came in and told her that she did not need surgery, that instead she was going to get an ERCP. Apparently, they now felt that the gallstone had
not dislodged itself and was still stuck in the pancreas - even though they hadn't done any more tests since the one that led them to believe the pancreas was in the clear.
The doctor who told her to get an ERCP in the first place accused her of misinterpreting and lying about what she'd said, claiming that she had recommended surgery all along. And the surgeon came in and told her that she didn't need the surgery now and should instead schedule it as elective surgery, maybe 6 weeks down the road.
I badly want to believe that doctors know what they're doing and have their patients' best interests at heart. But incidents like this really make you wonder. Why would a doctor barge in and accuse her patients of lying? Why would a surgeon who in the morning says surgery is required come in a few hours later and say it should be elective surgery, even though no further tests have been done?
Maybe the doctors are geniunely overworked and are trying to make the best of it. Maybe they are trying to offer the best service in the limited time that they have for all patients. Then again, maybe they're like any other employee and are concerned about their workplace politics and getting ahead.
Maybe the pharma companies have it right, after all. Spend more on drugs and drug research, and less on the doctors and nurses who are after all human, and are not immune to their petty politics and human error.
Such hatred...
I've never seen such hatred in anyone towards a wester politician before. This person really hates George W. Bush. Reading his article, I can sort of understand where he's coming from, but the level of loathing is quite something.
Vox Populi - One reader's take on the president's constitution.I've done a bit of ranting about Bush's lies, but this puts me to shame.
The Multiverse
An interesting discourse on Slate on the Universe vs. the Multiverse camps. The author Jim Holt comes out strongly on the Multi side.
Are You in an Alternate Universe? The Science of Parallel WorldsI haven't thought enough about it to form a particularly coherent argument myself, although I do tend to lean towards the Multi side as well. The argument that says every single decision faced by anyone/thing in the univere will lead to a split into two distinct universes seems kind of bunk to me, but there are other hypotheses (discussed in this article) that seem reasonable.
An interesting read, either way (if you're into that sort of thing).
Getting ready
Only 2 weeks left before school starts again (yikes!) and there's been so much to do to get ready. From starting to move my stuff back to London, to finishing up my summer project, to signing up for internet service, to deciding what courses to add/drop. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I've ended up signing up for more finance courses than I ever thought I would. First term sees me taking Financial Markets and Financing Biotech Firms; second term, I'm taking Entrepreneurial Finance and Corporate Financial Reporting.
It's funny, I spent a few minutes last night answering questions for a curriculum review; the recurring theme in my answers was that we weren't taught enough about leadership and managing people. And what courses do I decide to sign up for when given the choice? Not Business Leadership! Guess I'm just a hypocrite.
This is hysterical
A snapshot of the Shrub's (aka Dubya) inbox:
MSN Hotmail - InboxThanks to
Julia for sending me there.
New York City Blackout
Great set of photographs taken by a guy (John Wehr) in New York right after the blackout hit.
Yeah, yeah, I know - as if New York's point of view didn't get enough coverage. But this is quite good.
New York City Blackout as Photographed by John Wehr, Page 1If you'd rather read about how New York's gotten far too much coverage, go
here for an article from the Washington Post.
Darkness Reigns
So as I'm sure you're all aware, we had a bit of a blackout last week. I was at work in downtown Toronto when it hit, and within minutes the streets were absolutely jammed with people and cars trying to get out of the core. My entire office decided to stay downtown for a few hours, so we went out and got some beer, relaxing until the crush had dissipated.
The evening was spent actually talking with my sister and brother-in-law, as well as an hour spent on the phone catching up with an old friend. All the while, I was sitting on the front porch, watching the stars come out. What an experience - I'd forgotten what it's like to see stars in a city. I was incredibly disappointed the next morning, though, to see so many neighbours shut their windows and turn on their air conditioners as soon as they were able - despite pleas from the powers that be to conserve.
I had plans to go to London this weekend but was afraid a) I wouldn't be able to get the gas to get there, and b) if I did, I'd find a city in total darkness. Surprisingly I had no trouble getting gas (although I had to get premium because the regular was sold out) and London was no different than ever. You'd hardly know there was an emergency at all.
Gotta love Microsoft...
My colleague Brian came into my cubicle, laughing to himself, to show me something he'd just discovered in MS Word 97. I haven't gone home to test it in Word XP yet, but I had to write it down. He was composing a document comparing the US and Canadian biotech industries, and he wrote "the US industry is more mature". Word highlighted "more mature" with a green squiggly underline to indicate a possible grammatical error.
When Brian hovered over it, he was informed that
maturer was the recommended correction. Knowing this was wrong, he chose it anyway, whereupon Word highlighted it with a
red squiggly underline. Apparently, the very word it recommended he use is not in its own dictionary.
My Big Fattening Greek Salad
Further to yesterday's rant on fatty fast food, this article from Slate discusses the latest in the civil suits down in the US against Big Food.
My Big Fattening Greek Salad - Are french fries the new Marlboros? By Dahlia LithwickInteresting how the people who are supposed to be regulating these industries keep escaping the lawyers' wrath.
Fat incentives
There's been a lot of discussion lately over fast food chains targetting children with their fatty, unhealthy foods. Politicians have gotten in on the act as well - naturally, since they jump on any bandwagon once it gets going. After suing Big Tobacco, it won't be long before States south of the border start going after Ronald McDonald et al. And we Canadians are getting uppity about it, too; see
this article from Sun Media, which outlines the Ontario Liberals' view on vending machines in elementary schools.
It occured to me, though, that although our governments are quick to blame the industry (rightly) for their advertising tactics and for serving up such unhealthy fare in the first place, they are partially to blame for the situation our kids find themselves in. Here in Ontario, you can go out for a bite to eat and as long as your meal comes to less than $4, you don't have to pay provincial tax. Where did this $4 figure come from? I remember as far back as 15 years ago going to McDonald's for a $3.99 Big Mac Meal and not having to pay tax. Was it a coincidence that the majority of fast food outlets had meals priced just under the magic limit? (Unfortunately, while the cost of eating out has gone up, this $4 limit has stayed exactly where it's been for as long as I remember.)
Now if you think about it, the only full meals you can easily get for less than $4 come from the fast food chains that the government and health advocates are blaming for making our kids fat. Furthermore, these kids are the ones who benefit most from the tax exemption on cheap food, since they typically use their allowance or newspaper route money (do kids still even do that?) to pay for their outings. So by keeping this tax exemption at $4, the government is
encouraging our kids to eat cheap, unhealthy meals.
If our political leaders want us to take them seriously when they say they're concerned about our kids' health and want to change their eating habits, maybe they should start by setting a good example themselves. It's time for our government to revisit that tax exemption and find a way to encourage healthy eating.
Essential MBA Resources
After a year at Ivey, my classmates and I have amassed a wealth of knowledge that can only come from experience. I've collected a couple of resources that will help make the first year of the MBA experience a little lighter and more enjoyable. If you're entering an MBA program (or if you're just curious), surf on over to
WebKam Ivey: Resources.
Let me know what you think.
The latest batch
I heard yesterday that the incoming MBA class only has 240 members; that's a huge drop from our crop of 320 students and I have to say I feel a little gipped (or is it jipped?). While we had 80 people in each of our 4 sections and had to fight to get some facetime in class to get our participation points, the new class will only have 60 per section. That makes a very significant difference in that the students are able to get in on the discussion much more often and find it easier to get their participation points. Although that does bother me a little, what gets me is the following.
Apparently, business schools all over North America are seeing significant drops in enrolment this year, and they're all struggling with this unanticipated situation. Hello? How could they not have seen this coming? Enrolment in business schools is almost perfectly cyclical and follows the economic cycles practically like clockwork. While the economy was booming during the late 90's, business schools were frantically trying to increase their capacities, completely ignoring the historical patterns that were predicting a coming drop in demand for seats in good MBA programs. The very people who are supposed to be teaching us about business cycles and predicting demand missed the boat big-time.
Seems to me that business schools need to practice what they preach.
Interesting idea for reducing spam
Came across this article on Slate that suggests giving us "ownership" of our email inboxes and allowing us to charge people to send us messages. Spammers would then have negotiate a price and pay us to send the junk mail that they now send for free (free for them, huge costs for us).
Make Money Fast!!!! - If you owned your inbox, spammers would pay to get inside. By Jonathan Rauch
Golf with the prof
Went back to London this weekend for a couple of rounds of golf; that really is a fantastic city for anyone (like me) who loves to play golf. There are a number of really nice courses at VERY reasonable prices. This weekend we played
Ironwood (in Exeter) and
Echo Valley (in London). Both excellent courses, well maintained, somewhat challenging but very playable.
The round yesterday was a student/professor event put together by a couple of friends from Ivey. Unfortunately, the only professor who was able to make it was our IS professor from first year, Darren. We had 17 people overall, and the last group consisted of Darren, Jeff (one of the organizers), and me. We had a great time - Darren and I both shot a satisfactory if somewhat disappointing 103, while Jeff had a good round at 92. It was nice to spend a few hours with a prof in an informal setting and just chat. I learned a fair bit about the system at Ivey, the recent focus on research (even though it has long been the most active research business school in Canada), the incident that took place this year regarding plagiarism by a few stupid students during our Organizational Behaviour final exam, and a number of other topics. And I got to know a really good professor a little bit better. All in all, a very good day.
Cool!
Cars that email you when they need something:
If Only It Could Find Your Keys - With this gadget, you'll never forget where you parked. By Paul BoutinNow if only my body could email me when I need my arteries cleaned.
Biotech books
Just finished reading a book about investing in the biotech sector.
Fantastic read called
The Biotech Investor: How to Profit from the Coming Boom in Biotechnology, by Tom Abate.
If you're at all interested in biotech either from an investment or just general interest point of view, this book provides a wonderful overview of the areas of research, the major public and private companies (primarily focused on the US, but with the occasional mention of Canadian and European firms, as well). Read reviews or buy it
here at Amazon.
While I'm on the topic, if you're interested in catching biotech fever, Juan Enriquez of HBS has a book titled
As the Future Catches You that will make you want to grab onto biotech and push it forward yourself. Interesting writing style, too.
And the blogs shall inherit the earth...
Been following an interesting discussion about the importance and impact blogs are having on the internet. I was drawn to it my Michael OCC's blog (I seem to keep referring to him)
here.
Some people apparently believe that blogging will replace journalism as the primary source of information and news for people. Can't say I agree with them. David Akin, a journalist with CTV and the Globe and Mail, had some thoughtful input on the issue
here and a couple days later
here.
How long will we live?
Interesting article on the research being done into anti-aging genetics and drugs:
CNEWS Science - Genes begin to reveal secret of longer lifeBrings to mind the robot novels by Isaac Asimov (I think it was Robots of Dawn) in which a select few people emigrated to another planet and advanced the science of genetics to the point where they were living over 300 years (I wonder if that's where this journalist got the number 350 from).
Unfortunately, the long lives of the people on that planet had taken away their drive to innovate and invent, as well as the need for scientists to collaborate in order to achieve success in reasonable periods of time. This had led to the society becoming stagnant and being left behind by the other planetary societies.
Raises a whole host of possibilities, problems and issues to think about before we start extending people's lives to 120 years and beyond. Will we procreate less, or will the population of the planet suddenly explode to the point of unsustainability? Will we continue to reture at age 65 and strain our healthcare systems (as the journalist suggested) or will we work until 20 years before death as we do now? Will we see a new type of terrorism emerge with aging drugs being unleashed on people that cause them to grow old, feeble, and sick within days/weeks? I'm just speculating wildly here, but it does make you think.
My magic number
Last week,
Michael OCC blogged on the
prevalence of the number 56, which got me thinking about my own personal number - 51. This number seems to have popped up in the oddest places in my surroundings.
When I was a kid and my dad was a life insurance salesman, his agent number was E51.
When I was 17, we moved to a new house, with the street number 51.
After we moved to that house we got a new phone number from Ma Bell, which ended in 5151.
Some years later, I bought a new, hand-built racing bike, and the serial number was - you guessed it, 51.
Not very important, I know, but interesting, nonetheless...
It's almost over...
I can't believe how quickly the summer's disappearing; there are only 4 weeks left before school starts up again, and less than that before I have to return to London after spending my first summer in Toronto (well, first that I can remember, anyway). I actually like Toronto a lot more than I thought I would and could actually see myself living here. But for now, and for the next 8 months, London awaits. Now that it may be
getting Toronto's CFL team (temporarily, anyway), London actually seems like a real city, too.
I'm actually looking forward to returning to school. Ivey's new
biotech stream promises to be interesting, if nothing else. Plus, I haven't taken a science course in almost 9 years (yikes!), so it'll be nice to get into that again and to visit some labs.
Biotech's new business model:
Do some research, write a report, charge people $1000 to look at the report. Doesn't matter who you are or what your credentials - go for it!
That seems to be the standard out there on the web. I'm looking for a very simple piece of information: what are the forecasts for the growth of the biotech industry over the next few years? I don't think I'm being too picky - I don't really care what year the forecasts go out to, nor am I looking for forecasts from a particular source. But I can't find anything out there that doesn't cost money. Surely there must be some freely available report SOMEWHERE that has this information for me. Guess I'll just have to keep looking...
Blogger won't let me blog
Damn the internal server error!
Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle