The Program on the Pharmaceutical Industry (POPI) was founded in 1991 to promote research and education on issues related to competitiveness, performance, and productivity in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. This multidisciplinary program involves Sloan and the MIT Schools of Engineering and Science, with faculty and students drawn from the fields of biology, chemistry, chemical engineering, economics, medicine, and management science.
POPI manages a portfolio of research projects staffed by MIT faculty, students and industry representatives. Studies have focused on many areas, including research productivity, improving the effectiveness of R&D project management, the risks and returns of R&D investments, benchmarking the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, drug pricing, pharmaceutical market economics, outcomes research, and the dynamics of competition in the industry.
A key challenge for POPI is educating the scientific and management leaders who can bridge the range of disciplines underlying the management, manufacturing, and government regulation of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Besides developing courses and seminars for MIT students, POPI sponsors a variety of workshops and conferences for pharmaceutical executives, government officials, and others.
For more information, contact Stan N. Finkelstein, MD, codirector and senior research scientist, 38 Memorial Drive, E56-390, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, 617-253-8014; fax 617-253-3033, or by email at snf@mit.edu.