Biopharmaceutical Haiku, Round Two

Ebola doctors

Heroic efforts admired

Angels of mercy!

 

Genome sequencing

Compare normal with patient

Secrets revealed

 

Next-gen sequencing

One big issue still out there

Interpretation

 

Republicans rule

Eye Affordable Care Act

Newly covered screwed?

 

2.3 percent

Medical devices tax

Soon to disappear?

 

Advertised widely

Personalized medicine

More substance, less hype

 

Sovaldi pricing

Gilead raked over coals

Stock climbed; profits soared

 

Drug pricing pushback

Express Scripts draws line in sand

Game-changing response

 

Tax inversions slow

AbbVie rejects Irish move

Shire pockets big bucks

 

Surrogate markers

Big focus in the clinic

Numbers meaningful?

 

Dendreon bankrupt

Valeant bought its assets

Will Provenge survive?

 

Dissed for many years

Immunotherapy hailed!

How much will it cost?

 

Big patent battle

Immunotherapy field

Settlement was reached

 

Brain tumor patients

Want to die on your own terms?

Move to Oregon

 

More vaccines needed

Chikungunya virus spreads

Now in the U.S.

 

Biosimilars

Embroiled in naming debate

Lawyers pockets filled

 

Question for the Court

Off-label drug promotion

Selling or free speech?

 

Venture capital

Spending like drunken sailors

Hope they chose wisely

 

Drug prices soaring

Charging what market will bear

No link to “value”

 

Who is disliked more?

Insurance firms, Big Pharma?

Brought this on themselves

 

Big Data love-fest

Nuggets buried within it

Mining will be tough

 

Watson fights cancer

Bested all on Jeopardy

New task much harder

 

Cancer drug pricing

Forcing docs to hospitals

Effect on patients?

 

Amgen Seattle

Closed by the lords in T.O.

Job cuts raise stock price

 

Helix campus fate?

Expedia’s new HQ

Selling trips, not drugs

 

Processed foods harmful

Obesity crisis cause?

Sugar, fat, and salt

 

GSK China

Big fines paid for bribery

Which country is next?

 

PCSK9

Inhibiting this target

Drops cholesterol

 

The debate rages on

Big Pharma “innovation”

Discover or buy?

 

Healthcare system flawed

Changes would cut players income

Lobbyists block change

 

Remicade challenged

Biosimilar sales soar!

Low price in Norway

 

Obesity rising

Followed by diabetes

Huge healthcare problem

 

STEM education

More science in the classroom

Not Kardashians

 

World’s richest nation

Our health care stats more third world

Past time to fix this

 

Click here to read my previous collection of biopharmaceutical haiku.

Author: Stewart Lyman

Stewart Lyman is Owner and Manager of Lyman BioPharma Consulting LLC in Seattle. He provides advice to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies as well as academic researchers and venture capital firms. Previously, he spent 14 years as a scientist at Immunex prior to its acquisition by Amgen.