The Hay Group Singapore on Pharma deals don’t have to threaten innovation

In pharma, the big story of the spring and summer has been M&A. The drama began in April with an asset swap between GSK and Novartis. The most recent headline grabbers have been inversion deals like AbbVie’s $54 billion acquisition of Shire. All this deal activity is a potential threat to innovation. Why? During a deal, it’s easy to overlook the intangible drivers of development: people and culture. Deal mania makes it easy to forget that people and the way they work together are the main drivers of innovation. Drug development is a team sport, and the way the players interact is a major factor in achieving success. Too often, deals break up environments that have made innovation possible.