By Dr Ian Ellul

At the beginning of this year, in the annual letter to his shareholders, Warren Buffet, who is currently the world’s second richest man, illustrated the economic recession with the following words … “Participants seeking to dodge troubles face the same problem as someone seeking to avoid venereal disease: It’s not just whom you sleep with, but also whom they are sleeping with.”

 

Indeed, exactly one year after Lehman’s fall from grace, we are being comforted by the European Commission claiming that the recession in Europe is releasing its grip. Obviously this is good news. However it was only a few months ago that an apocalyptic vision was being projected by all, and in fact over the past year we have seen numerous mergers, take-overs and buy-backs extending horizontally within practically all markets. And obviously the healthcare system was not immune to this. My past editorials have included a plethoria of examples. And in case one needs further examples … just a few days ago we have seen Abbott communicate that it is to buy Visiogen for $400 million in cash to boost its position in intraocular lens technology for cataracts. Besides, it is also to acquire the 90% of outstanding shares of Evalve that it does not already own, for up to $410 million to strengthen its vascular business. Whilst on the other hand, Boehringer Ingelheim has confirmed that it will cut up to 900 sales representatives, almost 30% of its sales force, in response to market changes affecting the pharmaceutical industry. Thus as one can see the recession has brought green shoots for some companies and dark clouds for others.

 

Ironically, in August we have also seen the mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, defend the very cause which may have triggered the recession … Bloomberg has been quoted as claiming that US companies and their CEOs “don’t make a lot of money”. It is however the opinion of the editor that a fair and just balance has to be sought, respecting the fact that history has the habit of repeating itself. This goes beyond simply trying to prevent a scenario where companies go bust or workers get laid off. Indeed, Research and Development by pharmaceutical companies, including lead finding and clinical trials, can only be sustained through cost-effective management based on corporate social responsibility …

 

Amidst all this we are seeing China gearing up to begin the first vaccination programme worldwide against H1N1. The first recipients will be people scheduled to take part in the country’s National Day celebrations on 1st October who will receive a domestically manufactured vaccine by Sinovac. On the other hand, the US expects to begin an H1N1 vaccination campaign in mid-October, after approving vaccines made by Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis, CSL Ltd. and AstraZeneca’s MedImmune unit in September. Interestingly, MedImmune also manufactures a nasal spray vaccine for the seasonal influenza.

 

On a final note, a biotechnology company hailing from India, Indus Biotech, is also developing a botanical drug for HIV that is also seen as a potential treatment and prophylaxis for H1N1. The development may be of significance, considering the potentially improved safety/toxicity profile …