Christopher Allen

	Efficient energy consumption has taken to the friendly skies with a little help from the sun-and pharma. The 

, a Swiss solar-powered airplane, is attempting to make its longest flight-from Switzerland to Morocco with a layover in Spain-in a 48-hour intercontinental test flight piloted by project originators Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg.

	Bayer MaterialScience became an official partner of the project in 2010, according to a May 24, 2012, 

. Since then, more than two dozen scientists at the company’s laboratories in Leverkusen, Dormagen, and Krefeld-Uerdingen, Germany, have been tasked with brainstorming ideas for lightweight construction and energy efficiency.

	The trip is set to coincide with the commencement of construction in Morocco’s Ouarzazate region to build the world’s largest solar power plant. The Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN) will welcome Piccard and Borschberg after the landing. MASEN is leading the implementation of the integrated Moroccan Solar Plan, which aims at developing a minimum power capacity of 2000 megawatts by 2020.

	As Borschberg pointed out in the press release, “This corresponds fully with the goals we had set ourselves, in terms of distance and flight duration. Flying as far as this, powered only by solar energy, will be excellent training for the round-the-world trip planned for 2014.”

	Patrick Thomas, CEO of Bayer MaterialScience, said in the release, “Solar Impulse is a real challenge-in particular in regard to lightweight materials. Through the use of innovative materials, we can help find solutions for energy efficiency and ‘clean’ energy.”

	R&D partnerships like this can serve as an example to provide insight to help pharmaceutical companies re-evaluate the ways to go about manufacturing and processing practices in order to save on energy costs.

	“We are full of admiration for the vision of this pioneering project, which clearly demonstrates that the clean technologies we are promoting with Solar Impulse also have a role to play in everyday life,” said Piccard in the release.

	This partnership between a pharmaceutical giant and high-profile transportation certainly isn’t anything new. Last September, 

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) paired up with the McLaren Group

-well known for Formula 1 automobile racing-in an R&D agreement under which McLaren is sharing its capabilities in engineering, technology, analytics, and strategy modeling to help improve performance at GSK’s global business until, initially, 2016 (see 

Articles

Efficient energy consumption has taken to the friendly skies with a little help from the sun-and pharma.

Bayer Force One

Supreme Court Considers the Affordable Care Act

	In contentious three days of hearing on the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court now seems far more likely to overturn the landmark legislation. Given the strong support the bill originally received from the industry, does overturning it benefit or hurt pharma?

Video: Pharma and the Supreme Court reconsider healthcare reform

In contentious three days of hearing on the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court now seems far more likely to overturn the landmark legislation.

What Does Overturning ACA Mean to Pharma?

	Amid one of the most divisive eras in our nation’s political history, one thing we can all pretty much agree on is the fact that our stalled economic engine needs a jumpstart.

 from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate has been above 8% for more than three straight years (with some estimates above 17% for underemployment, which includes potential workers who are not even and/or no longer counted by labor statistics). A central issue for the 2012 Presidential campaign will rest on candidates’ strategies for dealing with how to stimulate economic growth in order to restore prosperity to levels not realized in this country for seemingly an eternity.

	The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act (H.R. 3606), which aims to ease regulatory barriers for start-up businesses, recently passed in the US House of Representatives by a 380-to-41 vote on Mar. 8, 2012, and the Senate on Mar. 27. According to H.R. 3606’s 

 (obtained from GovTrack.us), the bill “Modifies the application to emerging growth companies of any auditing or other professional standards the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board may establish that were proposed by one or more professional groups of accountants. [The bill also] exempts an emerging growth company from any such rules requiring mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report in which the auditor would be required to provide additional information about the audit and the issuer’s financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis).”

	The measure has been hailed by several biopharmaceutical manufacturers as well as the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). In a Mar. 27, 2012 

, BIO President and CEO Jim Greenwood said, “BIO applauds passage of the JOBS Act and all efforts to incentivize and encourage capital formation for growing companies working to develop breakthrough medicines and cures for devastating diseases. These reforms are especially important to innovative biotechnology companies that must spend investor dollars to address bureaucratic red tape and hurdles rather than the search for cures and breakthrough medicines.”

	Additionally, according to the BIO release, the JOBS Act “creates an ‘on-ramp’ to the public market for emerging growth companies, allowing them five years to focus on conducting critical research that can lead to cures for debilitating diseases-such as cancer, HIV/AIDs and Parkinson’s disease-before having to divert funds to address bureaucratic hurdles that cause unnecessary delays. Through this legislation, emerging growth companies will be exempt for their first five years on the public market from the compliance burdens of Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404(b), which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) studies estimate cost companies up to $2 million per year.”

		Expand the eligibility requirements of SEC Regulation A to include companies conducting direct public offerings of up to $50 million

		Increase the limit that requires private companies to register with the SEC from 500 to 2,000 shareholders

		Require the SEC to revise Rule 506 of Regulation D to permit general solicitation in direct public offerings, broadening the investor base.

	In highly regulated industries such as the biotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturing sectors, any measure to appropriately toss aside bureaucracy in order to foster growth and research certainly opens up doors for potential major breakthroughs. Such breakthroughs can yield the promise for massive dividends, both financially and in terms of saving lives.

Amid one of the most divisive eras in our nation’s political history, one thing we can all pretty much agree on is the fact that our stalled economic engine needs a jumpstart.

JOBS Act Passage—A Boost for Biopharma?

	New Jersey is known to many as a pharmaceutical mecca on the international stage with several leading pharmaceutical majors headquartered and/or with operations in the state. So to say that lawmakers need to create an economic climate conducive to foster growth is an understatement.

 which evaluated the results of the 2011 biopharmaceutical and medical technology economic impact survey, a study (conducted by 

) which concluded that the life-sciences industry continued to make up a key sector of New Jersey’s overall economy.

	Although the responses of five fewer companies-24 in the 2010 survey compared to 19 the following year-generated less meaningful findings for the most recent survey, HINJ President and CEO Dean J. Paranicas pointed to the strong continued growth in New Jersey’s bio/pharmaceutical sector. “Although we had 20% fewer companies participating in this year’s survey, those that did supply data demonstrate that the life-sciences industry continues to be a major economic driver in New Jersey,” said Paranicas. “However, New Jersey continues to face stiff competition from around the world and within the US for our industry’s investment. If anything, this data reinforces the need for our leaders in Trenton and Washington to continue to pursue policies that create a more competitive and attractive business climate here, and we look forward to continuing to work with them to achieve this objective.”

	The study also cited (factoring in the decrease in participation) a total economic impact from reporting HINJ member companies of $24.2 billion in calendar year 2010, as compared to $29.3 billion in calendar year 2009.

	Paranicas went on to laud the recent actions taken by Governor [Chris] Christie and the state legislature to make New Jersey more competitive and attractive for life-sciences investment. They include an aggressive and competitive business recruitment and retention program, adopting the single sales factor as the basis for calculating New Jersey’s corporate business income tax, and enhancing the Business Employment Incentive Program (BEIP) to promote greater private sector collaboration with New Jersey’s universities and colleges.

	However, every rose has its thorn. The study pointed out that the number of full-time employees decreased from 55,366 in 2009 to 51,619 in 2010, and capital spending dwindled from $1.5 billion to $0.9 billion during that same span of time. The Whitehouse Station, New Jersey-based 

 announced the elimination of approximately 13,000 jobs following the second quarter of 2011 as part of a cost-cutting initiative. This continues a workforce-reduction trend for Merck in recent years. According to a July 30, 2011, 

, “[Merck] will have eliminated about 30% of the work force it had at the end of 2009, in the wake of its $41.1-billion acquisition of Schering-Plough.”

	This reflects the long-growing trend among the industry’s financially dominant companies. Expansion in the form of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), without a focused emphasis on R&D to maintain and add to a workable pipeline, will enable access to only a finite amount of prosperity constructed on a delicate foundation of borrowed time. Paranicas pointed out that global R&D spending increased by $6.1 billion-one of the factors that has contributed to the continued success of New Jersey’s biopharmaceutical sector, despite some overexpansive M&A miscalculations, and the consequences as a result.

New Jersey is known to many as a pharmaceutical mecca on the international stage with several leading pharmaceutical majors headquartered and/or with operations in the state. So to say that lawmakers need to create an economic climate conducive to foster growth is an understatement.