MoForever Alumni News - Winter 2019

7 | MoForever Winter 2019 “THERE IS SUCH A DISCONNECT BETWEEN THE PUBLIC VIEW OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY AND THE PASSION AND DEDICATION I SEE FROM PEOPLE WHO EVERY DAY ARE WORKING TO DEVELOP PRODUCTS TO MAKE LIFE BETTER FOR PATIENTS WHO ARE OFTEN SUFFERING FROM SERIOUS AND CHRONIC CONDITIONS.” access to those treatments. And if that balance shifts too far, I am concerned that we won’t see the kind of vigorous drug development that we all may want. When you or the people you love get sick, you really hope there’s a treatment out there. It’s strange sometimes to work in an industry that is regularly vilified from all directions—the public, the media, and the politicians. I can only give you my perspective, which is based on my experience here at Jazz. There is such a disconnect between the public view of the pharmaceutical industry and the passion and dedication I see from people who every day are working to develop products to make life better for patients who are often suffering from serious and chronic conditions. Look, I’m someone who, as a citizen, is very much in favor of regulation of industries, especially industries like ours that are entrusted with protecting public health. But I am concerned that treating the pharmaceutical industry as the singular whipping-boy responsible for the majority of the deep dysfunctionality in our health care system will lead to some really irrational and short-sighted policy. For example, policymakers seem willing to overlook some of the effective guardrails that were implemented to ensure our medicines are safe (and safely distributed) in favor of getting more generics to market. Generics have a really important place in our system—but sometimes the balance tips too far and decisions are made where the supposed benefit of generics doesn’t necessarily translate into better outcomes or access for patients who are in desperate need of treatments. How do you manage the ever-changing regulatory environment? Pharmaceutical laws and regulations can be quite complex—you have to work really hard just to follow the plain text. On the other hand, the FDA is actually pretty good at providing public-guidance documents that walk you through how the agency