4 ms·
I always wonder-in this case of such an epic company fuck up, does anyone ever get fired? Or is responsibility so diffuse that nobody is ultimately responsible?
by 0cf8612b2e1e 1y ago
I always wonder-in this case of such an epic company fuck up, does anyone ever get fired? Or is responsibility so diffuse that nobody is ultimately responsible?
Pharma companies are really nothing more than holders of time-limited, expensive, exclusive IP. The number one priority should be to maintain those protections as long as possible. How could any patent be allowed to lapse, even if there was limited commercial value, let alone, a blockbuster drug making billions?
- ionwake 1y agoafter working in many companies for decades I can guarantee that the person responsible is some middle manager, who will just blame one of her/his workers who had that piece of work "deprioritised" to instead focus on the styling of a spreadsheet. The paper trail will point to the manager, who will just claim it was allocated to a problem character. The cartharsis comes in knowing that them firing the innocent just keeps them repeating the mistake.
- userbinator 1y agoOr is responsibility so diffuse that nobody is ultimately responsible? That's exactly how things like this happen. No one has responsibility, thinking it's someone else's problem, so no one bothers to do the needful.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago> thinking it's someone else's problem, so no one bothers to do the needful Or it’s in someone’s political interest to let the fuckup play out.
- bawolff 1y agoTypically when people get fired for something like this they are just the scapegoat. A failure like this isn't just one dude forgetting, its a system failure where policies and checks failed. If it is solely up to one person that is a failure in and of itself.
- nextos 1y agoSome people, including legal experts, claim it could have been intentional: https://www.legal.io/articles/5691258/Novo-Nordisk-Lets-Canadian-Semaglutide-Patent-Lapse https://www.legal.io/articles/5691258/Novo-Nordisk-Lets-Cana.... I was surprised Science didn't discuss this option. However, reader comments in Science do comment on this possibility. The idea is that letting the patent lapse would avoid getting regulated by the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board. I know several people working at NN, and it's quite chaotic and political, so I wouldn't rule out an internal oversight.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- bawolff 1y agoGiven how much of a blockbuster drug it is, wouldn't it be worth it for generics to rerun the trials in this specific case?
- wasabi991011 1y agoJust FYI, this isn't "by Science", it's by Derek Lowe, this is his blog, which is hosted on Science>Commentary>Blogs. In its description, Lowe says it is "editorially independent".
- jhbadger 1y agoYeah, Lowe doesn't work for Science -- he is a pharmaceutical chemist who has worked for various companies -- his "In the Pipeline" blog is interesting because while academic scientists often blog, industrial ones rarely do (perhaps for legal/IP reasons).
- consp 1y agoYou just described how the general public should view opinion pieces but acts like the previous comment and assumes it is "news". (To add: this is very human to do)
- philipallstar 1y ago
- foofoo12 1y ago> Or is responsibility so diffuse that nobody is ultimately responsible It doesn't take a very large company for this to happen. I've seen it in a sub 50 person company. There is a task to be done but no one can do it because everyone involved is waiting for someone else to do something. It's like a Mexican standoff.
- mcny 1y agoIt could be something as simple as answering the phone. Or checking if the default image for a product on an ecommerce website exists. If you answer the phone or write a quick script to check if the default image exists, now you sort of become the person who is "expected" to do this task. Boggles my mind.
- foofoo12 1y agoSpot on. Often it's also thankless tasks whilst being foundation for the company to run. Someone has to answer the phone.
- Rebelgecko 1y agoIs this the patent equivalent of letting your website's cert expire?
- crummy 1y agoMore like letting the domain expire, and someone else snapping it up before you can renew.
- nijuashi 1y agoSaying pharma companies are just holders of ‘expensive, time-limited IP’ is not only wrong, it’s offensive to those of us who actually do the science. We spend years designing, testing, and validating drugs, not scheming to hike prices. We’re not all Shkrelis out here.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 1y agoI was a bench scientist (proteomics) in pharma for over a decade. There is plenty of sweat and blood going into the pipeline, but a company is ultimately defined by the strength of its (patent) portfolio. Which is why a patent cliff drives their valuations.
- cperciva 1y agoI may be wrong, but aren't most drugs sold by large pharma companies actually developed elsewhere and then acquired?
- workerthread 1y agoNovo Nordisk does the vast majority of their RD in-house. I can’t speak to other companies.
- adolph 1y agoI've read a little about Novo Nordisk's history and it is a pretty interesting story about aligning financial success with human flourishing. The pharmaco is a subsidiary of a anti-diabetes foundation started from proceeds from getting permission to produce insulin. The foundation has an objective of providing support for scientific, humanitarian and social purposes. . . . In 2024, the foundation distributed a total of DKK 10.1 billion (approx. $1.39 billion) and paid out DKK 6.9 billion ($1.08 billion) in grants. [0] 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novo_Nordisk_Foundation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novo_Nordisk_Foundation
- BDPW 1y agoHaving seen AstraZeneca inside, this is not the case. There's quite a lot of development going on. It is all non-fundamental though, the focus is heavily on late stage. No identification of disease mechanisms and such.
- hibikir 1y agoIn your typical large company, there's always enough nebulous process as to minimize personal accountability for any decision that is made. There might be a decision maker in practice, but there will be enough wide meetings and committees so that the groups as a whole can make bad decision, or a very immoral decisions, with minimal risk of consequences for anyone involved. Raising tough questions in those rooms is a good way to not make friends, and end up isolated in an unimportant position after the next semi-anual reorg. Even in companies with a strong CEO who is, in fact, lording over everyone, mechanisms will be built to make sure said CEO's bad decisions were group decisions, and that most of the people around him agreed.
- benrawk 1y agoI mean the CEO got fired…
- chvid 1y agoThey are getting fired now - as Novo is in major crisis mode and going through its largest layoffs ever.
- m463 1y agoto me, I am reminded of countless DNS renewal mistakes that are publicized.
- Eupolemos 1y agoUh, Novo is having an absolutely massive firing round; the CEO got axed first and Denmark now has a glut of qualified unemployed which we're all doing our best to hire ASAP :D (we just had the lowest unemployment rate in our history) (Novo hired _way_ too many people because 'infinite money')