The focus of work in the drug development industry is inexorably moving away from vertically integrated pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies – the ‘sponsors’ – to contract research organizations (CROs) and other third-party suppliers of services. Approximately 350,000 people have left employment in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies – but they did not leave the industry. Many of these people moved from the sponsor/client side to the CRO/seller side. Drug development work is now increasingly done by third parties: the challenge facing industry is how to maintain and improve quality of service?

Partnering is a valuable strategy for clients and sellers to work together. In this presentation our speaker draws upon the lessons of other industries in which the majority of work is carried out by third parties in partnership with buyers, and looks at how partnering can facilitate high quality service provision by CROs.

This audio conference covers:

• What genuine partnering arrangements look like
• Drivers of trust in sponsor/CRO relationships
• Overview of Total Quality Management (TQM) in drug development
• Why TQM is dependent on genuine partnering

About the speaker:

Dr. Pete Harpum has been consulting on portfolio, program, and project management (P3M) for over ten years. He has led many assignments supporting international blue chip clients as they develop capability in P3M. He works with people at all levels of organizations, from project and program managers, through governance committees and associated advisory groups, to CEOs, CFOs, and the rest of the main board. Pete also chairs and contributes to many conferences and symposiums on P3M.

Pete is an affiliate professor at Grenoble Ecole de Management, teaching on the Advanced Master’s Degree in Biotechnology Management. He also carries out post-graduate lecturing and research on P3M for The University of Manchester, Chalmers Business School, and Manchester Business School. His other activities include editing and contributing to reference texts on project management, and supporting both the UK’s Association of Project Management and the US’s Project Management Institute in various ways. He has recently edited for Wiley a book titled Portfolio, Program, and Project Management in the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Industries, published in April 2010.

Pete has also published on design management, project methodologies, capacity management, management control, project success factors, and best practice in life science project management. Pete has worked in Europe, the United States, North Africa, the Middle East, and South East Asia.

Who should attend?

• VPs R&D
• VPs Procurement/Supply Chain Management
• Program & Project Management VPs
• Therapy Area Heads
• Clinical & Outsourcing VPs
• Project & Program Managers
• Team Leaders
• Project Management Office Heads
• Functional Reps on Projects/Programs