#EFPIALIVE – A conversation on the year ahead for pharma
31.01.14
It was, for me, significantly more challenging than in previous years, where I could simply prepare remarks and share my views. This time, I found myself in the hot seat. Faraz Kermani, a seasoned journalist and senior editor with Elsevier’s Pink Sheet, came to Brussels to grill me, in an unscripted “hard talk”-style interview. Faraz didn’t shy away from the tough topics – clinical trials data sharing, transparency, and IP issues, to name a few. The discussion also turned to science and what it holds for the future of pharma – incremental innovation, personalised medicines, big data. In short, in a little over an hour, we managed to touch on a wide variety of issues – not as in depth as I would have liked, but still an opportunity to highlight the important issues ahead.
Our event was also a good reminder of something I have said before – the importance of collaboration and open discussion. It’s not so often that the pharma sector opens itself up to the public for questions as was done earlier this week. To be honest, I expected some nasty remarks. But while there were tough questions, the conversation was open, honest, and to-the-point. It was evident that everyone in the room, and following the conversation on Twitter, holds the same basic interest at the end of the day – improve patient outcomes. How? Get better medicines; improve healthcare options; balance out inequalities; ensure better access to medicines…
These points can’t be solved by pharma alone. But with more open and frank discussions like those held earlier this week, pharma can better understand its role and how to best perform its part and meet its side of the deal. For an overview of the full conversation, I hope you will take a look at the event video. I will also be answering those questions that came in via twitter, which we didn’t have time to address that evening – to be published on EFPIA’s website as well. Finally, I encourage you to engage – our blogs are open for comments, and I would be glad to hear your views, always.
• View more photos of the event
• Event video
