This just turned up, in the "Goofy Deal Goggles" bin, as a rainy Friday morning unfolds. So, we once again take a quick look at the various legacy Schering-Plough executives (at least six, at last count) who've followed Fast Fred in one role or another -- over to the pre-IPO Bausch + Lomb C Suite -- to take one more ride on one of Fred's gilded Gulf-Streams.
Thanks entirely to our alert commenters -- we have one more confirmed -- and one more rumored. First, the facts: Merck has lost its VP of IR, Alex Kelly, who will join Fred, as his B + L Investor Relations maven (in much the same role he held at Pharmacia and Upjohn, and then at Schering-Plough, making him a triple bagger Fred follower):
. . . .Bausch + Lomb, the global eye health company, today announced that Alex Kelly has joined the company as vice president, Investor Relations, reporting to the company's president and chief financial officer, Bob Bertolini [also a Schering-Plough alum]. In this capacity, Kelly will serve as the primary point of contact for the investment community. . . .
Kelly joins us from Merck & Co., where he served most recently as vice president, Investor Relations. Prior to Merck, he was group vice president of Global Communications and Investor Relations at Schering-Plough. Earlier in his career, Kelly held senior Investor Relations roles with Novartis and Pharmacia & Upjohn. . . .
It will surprise me if Carrie Cox returns to the Fast Fred Fold -- given her other public company duties. [That is, I think she has a safer path ahead, if she stays put -- she'd at least arguably have to surrender her seat on the board of directors of Cardinal Health, a distributor of competing products, if she were head of pharmacy sales for B + L. She also sits on Celgene's board, and the board of Texas Instruments. Each of these public boards offer stable, safe income, and equity -- that is liquid. She is, in addition, CEO of a private company called Humacyte, at the moment -- lots of equity and cash there, as well.] Even so, Fred does have a way of platinum-plating his job offers -- to those most loyal to his causes. So -- it could be. It might be. But it is mere rumor, at this point.
Does anyone out there have a definitive piece of evidence on this? Do share.
2 comments:
Interesting post at Pharmalot.
http://www.pharmalive.com/that-new-merck-cholesterol-pill-is-an-embarrassment-for-fda
[Ed. Note: Cleaning up egregious typos. . . . originally published 05.11.13 | 10 AM]
Yes -- I did see that. Ed is a really sharp guy. He's right -- as is the guy he quotes -- who wrote for Forbes, on the same notion, on Thursday evening.
I'm internally debating about whether I need to say more on the topic -- than I said last Saturday morning.
I do agree that the FDA risks denting its now largely-repaired reputation, here. There was a time, during the second Bush-Cheney administration, when many insiders felt that industry had acheived FDA "regulatory capture".
That is, many felt that industry was able to subtly influence FDA's agenda -- due to high profile placements of former pharma insiders, in FDA policy-setting roles.
With Mr. Obama's election, most of that ended. FDA today is far more transparent and more responsive to public health needs than it has ever been.
Having said that -- and personally wishing that FDA would actively look at "comparative effectiveness" when approving new drugs -- I do know that, strictly speaking, FDA's regulatory authority ends at "is it an effective and safe medicine"?. . . not at "is it the MOST effective drug out there?"
So -- the realist in me accepts that FDA would be likely be sued had it NOT approved Merck's latest combo -- for exceeding FDA's authorized regulatory reach.
And so -- as I wrote seven days ago, I think we have to count on the market-place to make sure this combo sees only very limited adoption.
It is a difficult -- and gray -- area.
Thanks so much for mentioning it, directly.
I do think I'll make this a new post -- look above, in a few. [I should also mention, just FYI, that my new role as a lead partner managing a corporate practice group will mean fewer week-day/day-time posts, for the next few months, at least. I'll be investing time in the firm's practice development, and organizing and training my teams.]
Namaste -- and do stop back!
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