A DAY IN THE LIFE OF BHAVANI KASIBHATLA
Bhavani Kasibhatla used to perform research and supervise other scientists at P&G in areas like diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular biology. However, in June 2006, she became the Category Leader of the Women's Health division in the most upstream area of P&G Pharmaceuticals - the Search & Evaluate Team - and her life changed dramatically.
Now she spends a lot of time on planes, criss-crossing the globe to wherever she and her 25 S&E colleagues have identified a novel compound for development. "It doesn't matter if we're working with a large biotech company in California or a small operation in Israel. We'll evaluate hundreds of opportunities in a year, with the goal of progressing around 12 of them," says Kasibhatla.
There's much to do before Kasibhatla ever boards a plane, though. At the core of her strategy, indeed at the core of every decision made at P&G, is the patient. "We begin by examining what is the unmet medical need for the patient; we evaluate the current drug pipeline; we identify the gaps in therapeutics and medical devices; and we look high and low for new products," she says.
E-searches and data management tools factor into the team's search efforts. "If you want us to find you, one way is to make sure you are in the databases," Kasibhatla advises. Reading the literature, covering the scientific and biotech meetings, and participating in discussions with opinion leaders are part of the process. "Get published," she says to biotechs. By ‘publish' she doesn't necessarily mean crafting an article for a trade magazine or journal and waiting for a thumbs-up from a review board. But, she says, "Take time to put together a poster; it will be noticed at the meetings."
Once S&E finds an opportunity, how do they evaluate it? It's a balance between examining technical data, exchanging ideas with their counterparts in development, marketing, and the other commercial functions within P&G, and networking with thought leaders both inside and outside P&G. "We have a great network here at Procter & Gamble. It's not just the 25 members of our Search & Evaluate Team. There are 600 other scientists running R&D programs here within P&G Pharma, not to mention another 7,000 across the rest of the company," she says.
What kinds of deals in particular are of interest to P&G? Kasibhatla explains, "We search across our three therapeutic focus areas. There's a preference for global deals, but we are also open to opportunities limited to just the U.S., Europe, or Canada. While we generally prefer precedented targets with lower technical risk in later stages of development, other opportunities that have potential based on data will also be considered."
That said, P&G considers novel ways in which to collaborate with prospective partners. For instance, Kasibhatla says, "We will engage biotech firms early on, even before proof of concept is established, if we've identified a technology that adds value to P&G's therapeutic areas. Whether it is by providing tools, offering to conduct an analysis, or helping with gaps in a biotech's study design, it's all about giving our partners a seat at the table."
Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals' "Connect & Develop" strategy called for the integration of its R&D and commercial organizations into Category Teams, aligned to three therapeutic focus areas - Musculoskeletal, Gastrointestinal (GI), and Women's Health. The organizations are structured to excel at identifying, evaluating, negotiating, and managing long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships. In the following pages, you will meet three people who represent three key functional areas within this integrated business model: Search & Evaluate (S&E), Drug Development, and Alliance Management.
