Informist » Archive
Reform in Indian Retail = Agricultural reform?
The recent decision, and then its reversal, by Indian government to allow 51% foreign direct investment in retail sector have prompted significant debate. Investment in retail not only impacts the consumer facing business, but also the whole supply chain behind it. Gurcharan Das makes the case how investment in retail could benefit the agriculture sector, farmers and consumers alike: Indians today are victims of the primitive “mandi system” which escalates food prices by 1:2:3:4, resulting in the world’s highest gap between the price a housewife pays and what the farmer receives. What a farmer sells for 1 is sold at the mandi for 2, which becomes 3 at the kirana store and 4 to the consumer. When you pay Rs 20 per kilo for tomatoes, the farmer gets only Rs 5. … Read entire article »
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Origins of American movies
A recent article in New York Times Magazine has a brief account of the origins of American movie industry: The first American movies were disdained by respectable society, but the price of admission — 5 cents, hence the term “nickelodeon” — made them popular with working-class audiences. One day in 1906, an unemployed clothing merchant named Carl Laemmle, who was thinking about starting a five-and-dime, happened to walk into a packed Chicago nickelodeon. “It was evident that the basic idea of motion pictures and Mr. Woolworth’s innovation were identical,” Laemmle later wrote, “small-price commodity in tremendous quantities.” Laemmle started his own theater, and eventually expanded into producing content, founding Universal Pictures. When he started Universal, he immediately came into conflict with Thomas Edison, who held patents on movie cameras and projectors. Edison … Read entire article »
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China’s Basketball Ambitions
China’s pursuit of prominence in business and economic matters is well documented. The spectacular show and performance that was 2008 Olympics also demonstrated strides made by China in the world of sports. The country is focused on building in-house expertise and franchises to benefit from its own demographics. One example is its efforts to build the Chinese basketball league. America’s National Basketball Association (NBA) provided game footage to the Chinese state TV (CCTV) starting in 1987. The prowess of stars like Michael Jordan, Magic and Bird made NBA programming a draw for Chinese audience and the marketers that wanted to reach their consumers. Yao Ming’s draft into NBA in 2002 provided a major boon to NBA in China. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has intensified its efforts to build its own China … Read entire article »
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R&D collaboration between Pharma and Academia
Two advances in drugs for advanced prostate cancer were highlighted recently – experimental drugs from Medivation and Bayer/Algeta. In addition to its significance in scoring success against a difficult condition, the Medivation drug (MDV3100) is also notable for how it was developed – through collaboration with academic researchers. Collaboration with academia is one of the ways Drug companies have been trying to speed up drug discovery and development. In this case, Medivation licensed MDV3100 from Dr. Charles Sawyers in 2005, who designed the drug candidate. Medivation helped in crossing the ‘valley of death’ – the chasm between discovery of a promising compound in the lab and testing in humans. The company tested the molecule, altered it to make it suitable for humans and filed FDA application (IND – Investigational New … Read entire article »
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Pharmaceuticals industry – Views from the top
The pharmaceuticals industry is undergoing significant transformation due to a confluence of factors including: patent cliff for significant revenue generating molecules, increasing consumerism, continued regulatory ‘zero-tolerance’ on safety and increased focus on outcomes and economic benefits by payors. R&D productivity of big pharma companies has been declining. Major changes to the pharma sales and marketing model are underway to better align with changing market dynamics. The track record of success of M&A strategies has been mixed at best. At the same time, the fundamental growth drivers of demographic shifts and massive unmet medical needs still present significant opportunities. Two recent presentations by the CEOs of Novartis and Roche highlight their respective perspectives. … Read entire article »
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