The word is……….

In our business, building and nurturing relationships is a vital aspect of what we do. A slower market provides even more of an opportunity to network, have regular catch-ups with old friends in the industry and hopefully many new ones.

So with an ear to the ground, the word is, the life sciences market has truly started to pick up. Confidence is gradually returning and companies are beginning to hire once again. There are certainly more executive vacancies and from the conversations we have been involved in, we expect this trend to continue.

There is still considerable uncertainty from the employee point of view as restructuring in the industry takes a stronger hold, and we advance ever closer towards the patent cliff. Mergers and acquisitions have been rife this year, notably Pfizer with Wyeth, Merck with Schering Plough and Roche with Genentech.

From a collaboration perspective, we have Pfizer and GSK’s joint venture on HIV therapeutics, and GSK’s partnership with the UK Government, The Wellcome Trust and the East of England Development Agency to develop a new biotechnology science park in Stevenage – a strategic move that GSK CEO Andrew Witty is hoping will ‘foster innovation and accelerate the discovery and development of new medicines’.

So yes, it’s been a busy year all round and with the news this week that the UK is still in a recession, we are certainly not off the shaky treadmill.

What will we be doing? Well, we have a number of activities lined up over the coming months and we will keep in touch with you and your views. Keep an eye out for our next blog in a couple of weeks time, which will be a commentary of our next thought leadership event, the Harvey Nash Life Sciences Dinner. John Brown, BTG Chairman is our guest speaker for what promises to be a good evening!

Edith Udemezue,
Principal Consultant Life Sciences
edith.udemezue@harveynash.com

October 27, 2009 02:22 PM | Permalink