Pharma’s public reputation has never been great, but that is starting to change: 40% of consumers say they have a more positive view of the industry now than before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Harris Poll conducted between April 11 and April 13. While it is beyond unfortunate that it took this horrible global pandemic for the public to gain a newfound acknowledgement for what our industry is capable of, it is welcome nonetheless. Because at the heart of this industry, for the vast majority of people who work in it, there is a dedication to improving the lives of patients.
It is those individuals within our industry that PM360 takes great pride in honoring—and you will find a bunch of them within this issue. The 100 winners of our 6th Annual ELITE Awards represent everything we have always appreciated about the people in our industry. No one demonstrates that more than our Uber ELITE, Syed M. Shah, PhD, Chief Innovation Officer, IM HealthScience LLC, who has 77 patents to his name. Yes, you read that right 77, including four bonafide blockbusters: Pristiq, Zosyn, Tygacil, and Protonix.
But he wasn’t driven to develop new molecules for profits—it was all about the patients. In fact, many of his inventions are improvements on similar medications already on the market, but game-changing breakthroughs that expanded the use of these treatments to larger patient populations. Because that is what matters most to Syed—and to all of our winners—finding new and better ways to benefit patients, doctors, and our healthcare system as a whole.
That’s why we appreciate everything these people do. And why we are also incredibly grateful that they worked with us while under stay-at-home orders to get us everything we needed to make this issue possible. (As a side note, we hope you enjoy the cute nod in our ELITE section to the virtual communication that they—and everyone—is currently dealing with as we live in quarantine from one another.)
To ensure everyone is able to enjoy our print issue from the comfort of their homes, an interactive eBook of this issue is available on our website. So, stay inside, stay safe, and keep up the amazing work. Because now everyone is starting to recognize how ELITE you are.
