Chris J. Hilton, M.Sc., B.Sc. Interim Head of Development Operations Pfizer, Inc.

Pfizer’s Worldwide Development Operations (Dev Ops) group stands at the forefront of a continuing evolution in drug development that is yielding dividends in the currency that matters most to the pharmaceutical industry – improvements in quality, speed and cost.

Seven years ago, Dev Ops took a leadership position in holding the line against increasing development timelines and costs by reengineering development of drugs emerging from Pfizer’s laboratories. It was a time when Pfizer was returning to business not-as-usual following the second of two major acquisitions in three years, and the entire pharmaceutical industry was wrestling with a host of 21st Century challenges.

In addition to cycle time and cost concerns, lower industry productivity, slowing growth in traditional markets and a rising chorus of calls for healthcare reform increased the imperative of leveraging emerging markets and aging
populations.

Meanwhile, the Dev Ops group was literally and figuratively worlds apart, hampered by far-flung geography and an
absence of consistent standards, systems and processes. Its full-service outsourcing model, an industry standard in which a wide variety of Clinical Research Organizations (CROs) provided services to support global clinical trials, was no longer meeting Pfizer’s needs. ...