A Think Week For Me!
Just yesterday I read an article about the Bill Gates "think week" in the "Wall Street Journal". If you don't know what I am talking about, here is the story. Apparently, Bill Gates, each year, twice a year, sets aside one week to do nothing but read up on interesting ideas, papers, concepts put together by Microsoft employees from around the world and think about them. Any one can contribute. Even a janitor in India can send in a paper, and if it makes past the "idea police", then Bill will read it. So Bill sets aside one week, secludes himself in a small cabin in the woods away from phone calls and family instrusions, to go over this pile of papers to think, and jot down his thoughts. If an idea is truly hot, the writer/creator can expect to hear from Bill. And if Bill approves of an idea, then you can expect to get the funds needed to move it forward.
Conceptually, this is such a great idea for a leader of any large organization that I am surprised I had never heard of this before. I have heard of the executives meeting, but haven't heard of a CEO secluding himself to just "think". But this makes even more of a sense for me as an individual. Yes, why can I not have a "think week" of my own?
Granted I don't run a multi billion dollar company, and don't have lackeys throwing their ideas at me. But I have plenty to think about. Here is a list of what I need time to think, and have never enough of...
1) I need to think about the direction in which my life is headed. My life has sort of gotten on an auto pilot. I am slowly moving in some direction - what direction I don't know. I need some time to think about it
2) I need to think about my finances...what the hell happened to the portfolio?
3) I need to start thinking about what I will do after I retire from my lousy job.
4) I need to think about my daughters education - private or public; Princeton or Rutgers!
5) And oh, I need to think about how I am going to build another room around our house that my wife's always complains is too small.
So, yes I DO have a lot to think about but no time to think!!
But here is the catch. If I blow a week on "think", then I will have thunked one week of my vacation time! Thats pretty precious vacation time when your family hardly gets to see you during the week.
So am I a bit jealous of Bill because of his "think week"? You betcha!
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Bristol Myers Does The Right Thing!
Bristol-Myers Squibb company had a good week, with its Hepatitis B drug, Baraclude being given a thumbs up by the FDA advisory committee in United States. Granted, Hepatitis B is not a huge market in United States, and the monetary rewards for the company are rather limited, but this drug could be very important for the Asian countires. In fact, Baraclude is likely to have a positive impact to more people than many of the big Pharma products, simply because of the severity of Hepatitis B problem around the world.
To quote WHO,
"Hepatitis B is one of the major diseases of mankind and is a serious global public health problem. It is preventable with safe and effective vaccines that have been available since 1982. Of the 2 billion people who have been infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV), more than 350 million have chronic (lifelong) infections."
Yes, you read it right, there are over 2 billion people infected with this disease!! About 5% or 60 million Indians suffer from chronic Hepatitis B infection. The rate is not much different in China. And Baraclude is designed to help just these chronically ill patients. Being approved in United States, even when profits here are going to be miniscule, is an important statement. It tells the world that drug is safe and indeed good enough to withstand the scrutiny of the FDA. This will make it easier to get approvals in other countries, many of which rely on "certificate of free sale" for their own approvals.
So, in this day and age, when it seems to be more fashionable to develop lifestyle drugs that bring in tons of profits, Bristol-Myers Squibb seems to have done the right thing. This drug is never going to be a block buster - and yet they have developed it. And because they have developed it, many patients who would never have had a chance otherwise, will now be able to benefit from the miracle of modern technology, not just in the developed nations but around the world.
Bristol-Myers Squibb company had a good week, with its Hepatitis B drug, Baraclude being given a thumbs up by the FDA advisory committee in United States. Granted, Hepatitis B is not a huge market in United States, and the monetary rewards for the company are rather limited, but this drug could be very important for the Asian countires. In fact, Baraclude is likely to have a positive impact to more people than many of the big Pharma products, simply because of the severity of Hepatitis B problem around the world.
To quote WHO,
"Hepatitis B is one of the major diseases of mankind and is a serious global public health problem. It is preventable with safe and effective vaccines that have been available since 1982. Of the 2 billion people who have been infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV), more than 350 million have chronic (lifelong) infections."
Yes, you read it right, there are over 2 billion people infected with this disease!! About 5% or 60 million Indians suffer from chronic Hepatitis B infection. The rate is not much different in China. And Baraclude is designed to help just these chronically ill patients. Being approved in United States, even when profits here are going to be miniscule, is an important statement. It tells the world that drug is safe and indeed good enough to withstand the scrutiny of the FDA. This will make it easier to get approvals in other countries, many of which rely on "certificate of free sale" for their own approvals.
So, in this day and age, when it seems to be more fashionable to develop lifestyle drugs that bring in tons of profits, Bristol-Myers Squibb seems to have done the right thing. This drug is never going to be a block buster - and yet they have developed it. And because they have developed it, many patients who would never have had a chance otherwise, will now be able to benefit from the miracle of modern technology, not just in the developed nations but around the world.
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