Roche: we’re not pharma anymore - June 30, 2009
Roche has decided it is tired of having its name prefixed with the words ‘pharma giant’. In response, the company is bailing out of the pharmaceutical industry associations in both the UK and the US.
Instead, it will be signing up with the US Biotechnology Industry Association (BIO). The move follows the company’s merger with biotech firm Genentech earlier this year for around $46 billion.
“As part of the world's largest biotechnology company, Genentech and Roche believe that BIO’s purpose is closely aligned with the direction of the new company and, therefore, can represent the company’s interests in Washington, among policymakers, legislators and the general public,” said the company (AP).
Farewell big pharma, hello big biotech.
Genetech was already a member of BIO but Roche will be giving up its membership of the Pharmaceuticals Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). According to the New Jersey Star-Ledger:
Billy Tauzin, the president and CEO of PhRMA, said the trade group sent its chairman, AstraZeneca CEO David Brennan, to Roche’s headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, to make a personal appeal to Severin Schwan, Roche’s chief executive.“It’s a Genentech decision not to join PhRMA,'' Tauzin said. “They feel they are different.'”
Roche is also leaving the UK’s Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. Coincidentally, the ABPI suspended Roche for breaches of its code of practice last year. The Financial Times says:
The resignation has created tension within the ABPI, which derives a substantial six-figure subscription from Roche and is disputing its right to leave. More broadly, it raises questions over the organization’s ability to regulate the industry at arm’s length.
