Project Management for the Pharmaceutical Industry

Book excerpt: The pharmaceutical industry has encountered major shifts in recent years, both within the industry, and in its external environment. The cost of healthcare rising due to an ageing population, the intensification of regulatory requirements and mergers within the industry have led to an increased need for restructuring, cost reduction and culture change projects. Project management is the key to addressing these needs, and also to effective drug development. Given the costs of development and the critical issue of 'time to market', project management techniques - appropriately used - are a key factor in bringing a drug to market. In this book, Laura Brown and Tony Grundy's pharmaceutical expertise and experience offers the reader a guide to the most relevant project management tools and techniques and how to rigorously apply them in the pharmaceutical industry. The authors cover the technical, strategic and human aspects of project management, including contingency planning, simulation techniques and different project options. Complete with decision-tree diagrams, checklists, exercises and a full glossary, Project Management for the Pharmaceutical Industry provides clinical research, drug development and quality assurance managers or directors with a one-stop reference for successfully managing pharmaceutical projects. The text has been revised for this edition and now includes some additional material on risk management.