Featured physician executive: Joseph M. Feczko, M.D.

Each week, we feature a physician executive.

This week, our featured physician executive is Joseph M. Feczko, MD. Here's some information from Forbes.com about Dr. Feczko.

Director
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.
New York , NY
Sector: HEALTHCARE / Drug Manufacturers - Major

On July 16, 2010, Joseph Feczko, M.D., was appointed to the Board of Directors of Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. Joseph Feczko, M.D., 61, a seasoned pharmaceutical executive, joins the Keryx Board with broad industry experience across the spectrum of medical, regulatory and operational affairs. Dr. Feczko was, until his retirement in May 2009, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Pfizer Inc and member of the Executive Leadership Team with global responsibilities for all aspects of the company?s medical, regulatory and safety activities. Following a time in private practice, he joined Pfizer in 1982 in New York, and then worked for ten years in the United Kingdom for both Pfizer and Glaxo where his responsibilities included supervising clinical research, regulatory affairs, data management and safety reporting. He returned to Pfizer in New York in 1996, where he held positions of increasing responsibility in clinical research and regulatory affairs and safety, culminating in the role of CMO. Dr. Feczko is board-certified in Internal Medicine and a specialist in Infectious Diseases. He has a B.Sc. degree from Loyola University Chicago, and an M.D. from the University of Illinois College of Medicine.

Featured Physician Executive: Freda C. Lewis-Hall, M.D., FAPA

Each Friday, we feature a physician executive. This week's featured physician executive is Freda C. Lewis-Hall, M.D., FAPA.

Here's some information about Dr.  Lewis-Hall from the Pfizer website:

Freda C. Lewis-Hall, M.D., FAPA
Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer

Freda Lewis-Hall, M.D. is Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer for Pfizer Inc, the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical company. As the most senior physician at Pfizer, Dr. Lewis-Hall leads medical, patient safety, regulatory affairs and quality assurance efforts throughout the company, as well as outreach to doctors and other medical professionals.

Prior to joining Pfizer, Dr. Lewis-Hall was at Vertex Pharmaceuticals where she was responsible for clinical and nonclinical development and both medical and regulatory affairs. Dr. Lewis-Hall managed a number of key functions, including regulatory affairs, clinical and nonclinical development, medical affairs and commercial development.

Dr. Lewis-Hall has diverse experience across multiple areas of the pharmaceutical industry. She has served as the Senior Vice President, U.S. Pharmaceuticals, Medical Affairs at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Prior to her position at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Dr. Lewis-Hall held leadership positions at Pharmacia Corporation, Eli Lilly and Company, the National Institute of Mental Health and at the Howard University College of Medicine Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Lewis-Hall received a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Natural Sciences from The Johns Hopkins University and her Medical Doctorate from Howard University Hospital and College of Medicine.

Pfizer will be cutting 6,000 jobs

Pfizer Global Manufacturing Announces Plans To Reconfigure Its Global Plant Network

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Eight Sites Targeted for Exit; Reductions Recommended At Six Plants; Operations to Expand at Others

NEW YORK, N.Y., May 18 - Pfizer Global Manufacturing announced today plans to reconfigure its worldwide plant network to create a fully aligned manufacturing and supply organization from the combined networks of Pfizer and Wyeth... These changes will result in a global reduction of approximately 6,000 jobs over the next several years.

Pfizer is firing but Roche is hiring

Who can keep up with the world of pharma/biotech? Pfizer had some major lay offs in the area of Research and Development (R&D). According to the PharmaExec Blog, Roche Pharma Research is preparing to hire scientists in New Jersey.

From R&D to Venture Capital

John LaMattina, PhD, was the former Pfizer president of global R&D (Research and Development). He has now joined the Boston-based venture firm PureTech Ventures as senior partner. LaMattina spent 30 years at Pfizer and I wonder how many years he will spend at PureTech Ventures. Several members of the PureTech Ventures team are MIT graduates (if you're in Boston, that's going to be expected). Some of the associates and partners have PhDs or MDs. Considering a non-clinical career with a venture capital (VC) firm?

Here's a brief snippet about PureTech Ventures:

We specialize in company creation and early-stage investment in novel therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics, and research technologies. We focus on major unmet medical needs that have yet to be addressed by emerging science. Enlisting the world’s leading academic and industry experts, we identify novel technologies (often prior to publication) and create companies that drive those discoveries to commercially and clinically driven milestones. Once those milestones are achieved, we build out the leadership team, create syndicates for later stage financing rounds, and position the technology to make the broadest impact through public financing or acquisition.

Going back to Pfizer now: Pfizer is splitting its R&D operations into a biotherapeutics division which will be headed by Mikael Dolsten and a pharmatherapeutics division which will be headed by Martin Mackay.

Pfizer to cut 2,000 jobs

As Pfizer and Wyeth prepare for their merger, six out of the 20 combined research facilities will get closed. You can expect to see a heavy amount of reorganizing, consolidation, etc. This will result in the loss of 2,000 jobs (scientists, lab technicians, etc.).

These are very difficult times for people working in pharma. As jobs get cut, where do people go? Most look for other jobs in pharma. There's no security wherever you go. You could be a very loyal employee and your job may still get cut. I wonder if these pharma stories are causing some physicians to think twice before they leave their "stable" clinical careers.

Pharma and Twitter

We've started seeing more articles related to the topic of Twitter and the corporate world of Pharma/Biotech. Pharmavoice recently published an article titled, "What is the business case for Tweeting?" (to read the article, click here)

Is Twitter simply a cocktail party where you can mingle and exchange information with others? Or, is Twitter much more than that?

According to this article, 18 pharma companies were using Twitter as of last month. J&J (Johnson and Johnson) appears to be the most active, but you'll also see other large pharma companies such as: AstraZeneca, Novartis, GSK, Pfizer, Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novo Nordisk, and several others.

So while we're on this topic of Twitter, let me throw out a few questions:

• Is Twitter simply another marketing tool in this new wave of social media?
• Will the FDA regulate how pharma uses Twitter to communicate with consumers and healthcare professionals?
  
• Is Twitter an effective way to communicate safety issues to healthcare professionals? (the FDA and CDC are using Twitter)
• Is Twitter a way for consumers to send messages directly to Pharma?
• Is Twitter a temporary fad, or is it here to stay?

I encourage you to explore social media and try using Twitter for a few weeks. You won't be impressed if you only try it for a few days. However, give it a few months and see what you think. You have to be willing to follow some people back and exchange ideas (imagine that you're at a social event).

You can start by following my Tweets here: http://twitter.com/DrJosephKim

Meet some industry Chief Scientific Officers

Would you like to meet some Chief Scientific Officers (CSOs)? What exactly does a CSO do? They keyword here is "strategy." Are you able to integrate scientific strategy with business strategy and communicate things clearly to both internal and external stakeholders? These CSOs are very powerful people in the world of pharma.

According to a recent article on PharmaVOICE, the Chief Scientific Officer "helps set a company's strategy, interacts with investors and board of directors, and helps people understand the science behind new products." It's really a combination of public relations (PR) both externally and internally. They need strong corporate leadership skills that includes a considerable amount of ownership and strategy development.

So who are some of these industry CSOs?

• Julian Adams, PhD (Infinity Pharmaceuticals)
  
• Joseph Bolen, PhD (Millennium, the Takeda Oncology Company)
  
• Charles Cantor, PhD (Sequenom)
• Timothy Clackson, PhD (Ariad Pharmaceuticals)
  
• Kevin Judice, PhD (Achaogen)
• Ruther McKernan, PhD (Pfizer Regenerative Medicine)
• Martin Petkovich, PhD (Cytochroma)
• Barry Polisky, PhD (MDRNA)
• Jasbir Seehra, PhD (Acceleron Pharma)
• Marc Tessier-Lavigne, PhD (Genentech)
  

To view the PharmaVOICE article and to meet these CSOs, click here (will open as a PDF).

The Health Industry and the Stock Market

So much is changing in the healthcare industry. Have you spoken with your stock broker? If you're like me, then you probably try to do everything online. I'm a big fan of Online Trading. Why? Because it's so convenient and you can easily make changes easily by getting on a computer and logging in to your favorite Online Broker. It's easy for me since I'm always carring some type of computer around (usually an ultra-mobile PC that is connected to the Internet). The Internet has simplified so many things, including Stock Trading. It's hard to imagine what the world was like before we had the World Wide Web.

Who do you use to trade Stocks, Options, Mutual Funds, ETFs and Fixed Incomes? Pharmaceutical companies are merging, others are downsizing to reduce costs. Pfizer is merging with Wyeth. Schering-Plough is merging with Merck. Roche is aquiring Genentech. This may not be the best time to leave a job in clinical medicine to join the folks in pharma. With all these mergers and acquisitions, Stock Trading must be going crazy these days. The stock market has been in a downhill tumble and no one seems to know what's going to happen in the market. There is so much uncertainly about the current economy. What services or tools do you use for Online Trading?

Pfizer Oncology: Martine J. George, M.D., M.Sc

Pfizer announced the appointment of Martine J. George, M.D., M.Sc, to Vice President of Medical Affairs for its Oncology Business Unit. Dr. George received her M.Sc in Pharmacology from Montreal University and her M.D. from Paris University. Her industry experience includes companies like J&J, Ortho Biotech, Novartis, sanofi-aventis, and more.

Because the pharmaceutical industry is really an international business, there are opportunities even in the United States for foreign medical graduates (FMGs) / international medical graduates (IMGs). In order to climb the corporate ladder, you have to have strong business skills and excellent people skills. If you're an FMG or IMG interested in non-clinical opportunities, build your social network so that you can find the right types of opportunities.

The end of axitinib

Pfizer was developing axitinib (a tyrosine kinase inhibitor or TKI) for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, recent Phase III results were disappointing. As a result, Pfizer has terminated development on this agent. This is just another failure example of all the money, time, and energy spent on drug development research. It really is a shame because we need more effective therapies in oncology.

Will Pfizer Buy Wyeth for $60 Billion?

Rumors are circulating... it's still way too early to say, but it sure is an interesting headline. Maybe it won't be for $60 billion. Maybe only $59 billion?

New Pfizer Website on Medication Safety

Pfizer has released a new website focusing on medication safety.

www.Pfizer.com/medicinesafety

This site addresses some important issues regarding drug safety and is designed to be a resource for both healthcare professionals and consumers (or patients if you prefer). For details on specific drugs, the site points you to the FDA or to the PDR website. Of course, they also include a link to their own products.

It's great to see a large pharma investing in drug safety and public health issues. Patients are often so easily misinformed about these types of things.