A DAY IN THE LIFE OF KEVIN MALLOY
As P&G Pharmaceuticals' Associate Category Manager of the Gastrointestinal division, Kevin Malloy oversees all of the company's GI disorder-related compounds in research and development. This includes both life-cycle managment R&D projects for their current portfolio of GI products and the novel technology coming into the P&G fold from licensing deals. There's no time for grass to grow under this man's feet because he's also responsible for the products' successful journey through the regulatory approval process and their overall marketing.
"I have project meetings all day on several different fronts," Malloy says. "One day, I might be at an FDA meeting in Washington to discuss the statistical analysis plan for a study, or on another day, conducting a three-hour teleconference with Taiwan about process impurities," he adds.
Believe it or not, his "big picture" responsibilities as Category Manager are just part of Malloy's job. His 23 years of cardiovascular and GI bench and project management experience caught senior management's eye in 2006 when the pharma version of the company's Connect & Develop model was born. So he donned the additional mantle of Project Manager to work hand in hand with ARYx Therapeutics, a San Francisco-based company in an alliance with P&G to co-develop a gastrointestinal compound called ATI-7505.
Malloy says, "I sincerely enjoy working with our partner. I've found humility is always a good place to start. With partners it's always best to check one's ego at the door, but not a lot of people do that. Egos tend to get in the way of a lot of human interactions."
What else works best with partners? "I think that if both parties know what's expected of them up front," Malloy says, "things go more smoothly down the road. And it's really about the people more than the contract. You can have similar contracts with two different companies, yet end up with two very different day-to-day relationships. The players - and their values - make all the difference."
P&G Pharmaceutical's Connect & Develop strategy depends a lot on the art of partnering. Malloy, who clearly is on the front lines of a very successful alliance, says, "We're going into these partnerships with a mind-set of being helpful and humble. We're also thinking long-term. We look forward to helping partners like ARYx celebrate their golden anniversary."
Respecting the expertise one's partner brings to the table helps to cement the deal and strengthen the relationship. Malloy freely admits, "We have something to learn from every alliance. I like to learn as much as I can about not only their technology, but also how they operate and how they think. Sincerely trying to understand what makes our partner tick builds trust."
In the end, alliances are about trust. And Malloy says it best: "You can trust your baby with us."
