Spring Break
Croissants, Leadership & Reflection with
Dr. Daniel Vasella
Jaya Tandon (NE), Associate News Editor
Issue date: 10/20/03 Section: News
So it was not that somebody would just have a technical objective and then in the end, marketing would say that they can't sell it because it's not a meaningfully differentiated product versus that of the competition, for example. By integrating this early on, we became much faster, more productive and came up with products that were of better quality.
The Harbus: You once said that the way to keep growing was to - go where there is no path and leave a trail. What did you mean by that?
Dr. Vasella: Simply that one is better advised to do what one thinks and concludes is right than just to follow the established path thinking that well, everybody does it this way, it's always been done this way. If we want to improve and if we want to contribute to society, we shouldn't be too preoccupied about what the established paths are but rather do what we think is correct. So we started several initiatives which some people would have probably felt were risky or not right. For example, the Research Institute in Singapore. This requires courage and I think courage is absolutely needed at every level, that people stand up for their views and are able to explain why they take certain points of view.
The Harbus: In fact, you were very hands-on during the development of Gleevec, the anti-cancer drug. It was stupendously successful in the phase one trials and there was a huge public demand to enlarge the scope of the phase two trials. Despite the fact that many in your company thought it was a huge risk to invest so much in it so soon, what made you go ahead with investing such a lot behind it?
Dr. Vasella: The belief that it was a potentially life-saving drug for people. In such a situation, we could not do anything but move quickly and consistently forward.
The Harbus: Did you face a lot of resistance within the company?
Dr. Vasella: No, not a lot. Some people were concerned but the majority of the people were absolutely supportive. Fundamentally people did not disagree, it's just that some people had more economic concerns.
The Harbus: You once said that the way to keep growing was to - go where there is no path and leave a trail. What did you mean by that?
Dr. Vasella: Simply that one is better advised to do what one thinks and concludes is right than just to follow the established path thinking that well, everybody does it this way, it's always been done this way. If we want to improve and if we want to contribute to society, we shouldn't be too preoccupied about what the established paths are but rather do what we think is correct. So we started several initiatives which some people would have probably felt were risky or not right. For example, the Research Institute in Singapore. This requires courage and I think courage is absolutely needed at every level, that people stand up for their views and are able to explain why they take certain points of view.
The Harbus: In fact, you were very hands-on during the development of Gleevec, the anti-cancer drug. It was stupendously successful in the phase one trials and there was a huge public demand to enlarge the scope of the phase two trials. Despite the fact that many in your company thought it was a huge risk to invest so much in it so soon, what made you go ahead with investing such a lot behind it?
Dr. Vasella: The belief that it was a potentially life-saving drug for people. In such a situation, we could not do anything but move quickly and consistently forward.
The Harbus: Did you face a lot of resistance within the company?
Dr. Vasella: No, not a lot. Some people were concerned but the majority of the people were absolutely supportive. Fundamentally people did not disagree, it's just that some people had more economic concerns.
