Through the integration of Hoechst Marion Roussel and Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Aventis is creating a truly global, inexorably interlocked network of drug discovery and development capabilities. The need to improve sales performance and increase capitalization--a defense against takeover--drove the merger. But the merger also gave it both more R&D resources and an opportunity to retool its process. As this question and answer session with Aventis's Frank Douglas, head of R&D, notes, the company is emphasizing the creation of capabilities through internal and external investments, rather than scale. The reconfiguration draws on Douglas's experience in HMR's previous, and far less successful mergers. Aventis has set clear project priorities and created interlocking R&D functions in the US, France, and Germany, with platform technology resources-wherever they're located-directed to priority projects. The result, Douglas believes, is a system that focuses on optimizing the global portfolio, not the site portfolio. The company's challenge now, and perhaps its biggest opportunity, comes from being a truly multinational organization. Aventis has core drug discovery and development sites in the US, France, and Germany, and has chosen to distribute decision-making equally among them. That facilitates outreach to academia and biotechs, but it's not the most efficient way to organize and requires extra time and work for communication.
by Mark L. Ratner
Among the never-ending consolidations in the pharmaceutical industry, Aventis SA —formed a year ago through the merger of Hoechst Marion Roussel (HMR) and Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (RPR) [See Deal]—is...
Read the full article – start your free trial today!
Join thousands of industry professionals who rely on In Vivo for daily insights
Advanced AI is revolutionizing sales enablement by addressing training gaps and performance challenges. Used correctly, it can help to bridge the sales-marketing divide, accelerate ramp-up times and provide managers with data-driven insights.
As the health care industry undergoes a digital transformation, the integration of AI into Quality and Regulatory Management Systems is proving essential. The challenges for successful AI deployment emphasize the need for robust digital infrastructure, data literacy programs and privacy measures to enhance patient safety and commercial performance.
Aurion Biotech is developing a cell therapy for corneal diseases that is cheap enough to produce and can be scaled that it should reach the masses in a way that other cell therapies cannot.
The whirlwind back-and-forth on US tariffs and Robert F. Kennedy jr.’s plans to deregulate health care have become all-preoccupying, but the National Academy of Medicine was first to set out President Trump’s health administration priorities.
Mikkel Wandahl Pederson, CEO and chief scientific officer at Commit Biologics, discussed the company’s mission to harness the powerful complement system for the treatment of serious diseases.
Phenomix Science presented new data at Digestive Disease Week 2025 showing its machine learning-assisted genetic risk score can predict nausea and side effects from GLP-1 receptor agonists, aiding personalized obesity treatment.
