Back to School, behind the scenes: a BioCentury podcast

BioCentury’s Back to School has returned for the twenty-eighth consecutive year, prescribing biopharma’s once-in-a-generation opportunity to reboot how drug development is done in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the latest edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast, Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn and Washington Editor Steve Usdin join Executive Editor Jeff Cranmer to discuss the key takeaways from their interviews with executives, investors and other industry leaders on how the biopharma industry can entrench fundamental changes that can lead to a step-change in both the pace and reach of drug development.

Citing BioCentury’s interviews with Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan and Roche’s Bill Anderson, Usdin discusses how empowered employees have helped pharmas respond nimbly to the challenges posed by COVID-19. Narasimhan is CEO of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS; SIX:NOVN), and Anderson is the CEO of the Roche Pharmaceuticals unit of Roche (SIX:ROG; OTCQX:RHHBY) (see Cover Story:  “The Imperative of COVID-19: Biopharma’s Once-in-a-Generation Chance for Change”)...