London-based SPG Media, publishers of the annual World Pharmaceutical Frontiers survey, has included five Indians among the top 40 influential people in the global pharmaceutical industry in 2008.
These include former drugs controller M Venkateshwarlu, Ranbaxy CMD Malvinder Mohan Singh, Ranjit Shahani, India chief of Swiss pharma major Novartis AG, Ramaprasad Reddy, chairman Aurobindo Pharma and Rajesh Jain, joint managing director, Panacea Biotec.
The survey, which focused on "innovation" rather than "business volume", selected Mario R Capecchi, Oliver Smithie and Martin J Evans, joint winners of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine as the most influential people.
Arthur Levinson, Chairman and CEO Genetech, Bill and Melinda Gates, co-directors of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Margaret Chan, director general WHO, Michael Rawlins, chairman, NICE, Andrew Witty, incoming CEO, GlaxoSmithKline, Bill Clinton, founder Clinton Foundation were among the people figured among the top 10.
Venkateshwarlu is in the 16th position, followed by Malvinder Singh at the 21 slot. Ranjit Shahani was ranked 24, up by 14 places from 38 last year. Both Ramaprasad Reddy and Rajesh Jain, at 35th and 40th positions respectively, have made the list for the first time.
"Last year, our list was dominated by business and big spenders. This year, however, there has been a shift of power, with no sign of any 'big pharma' in the top ten. The exception is the incoming CEO of GlaxoSmithKline Andrew Witty, who has been a driving force within the organisation for years," Andrew Tunnicliffe, editor World Pharmaceutical Frontiers stated.
Other inclusions show how regulatory and governing bodies have made an impact. Michael Rawlins, NICE chairman, made it to the top five, demonstrating how the power base has shifted from pharma to those who monitor them.
The reason for this refocus from finances to innovation is, in part, the result of a tightening marketplace, fiercer competition and the opening up of the increasingly dynamic emerging economies of India and China", Andrew Tunnicliffe, editor World Pharmaceutical Frontiers stated.
In addition to Tunnicliffe, the selection panel included Agnes S Klein, director of the Centre for Evaluation of Radiopharmaceuticals and Biotehrapeutic Products in Biologics and Genetic Therapies Directorate, Clive Savage, director of Corporate Communication, IMS Health, Michael A Santoro, associate professor, Rutgers Business School, Newark, US, and Andrew Jack, pharmaceutical correspondent with Financial Times, London.
This is the second survey conducted by SPG media.
