The MIT Program on the Pharmaceutical Industry is a research and education program focused on understanding the structure and dynamics of the global pharmaceutical industry. Our research concentrates on the firms that make up that industry, as well as on their customers and regulators. POPI educates doctoral students to teach and conduct research in areas related to the industry. Through its research, POPI seeks to improve the performance of the pharmaceutical industry in discovering and developing new drugs that add value to health and the delivery of medical care. - POPI Mission Statement
Founded in 1991 with the support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Program on the Pharmaceutical Industry has made a significant contribution to academic research into the workings of the pharmaceutical industry. Our multidisciplinary approach involves faculty from the MIT Schools of Engineering, Science, Humanities and Social Science, as well as the MIT Sloan School of Management. Dozens of students at MIT and hundreds from industry and government have benefited from POPI courses offered as part of the regular academic schedule or in the form of special seminars and symposia.
At present, 30 faculty-24 from MIT and six from other institutions-are involved in POPI-related research. Some 20 POPI-supported doctoral students will have completed their degrees by June 1997; most move on to academic positions at other universities or to consulting, and continue to work on issues related to management of the pharmaceutical industry. Many other graduates, mainly at the master's level, have accepted positions within the pharmaceutical industry itself.
A growing number of pharmaceutical firms provide funds to POPI as corporate sponsors. Many firms-34 to date-have provided data to POPI researchers. Seven government agencies participate or cooperate with us.
POPI research projects have elucidated some of the key determinants of firm and industry performance with respect to the productivity of drug discovery and the time it takes to develop new drugs; investment in R&D projects; manufacturing processes; and the role of promotion and pricing in achieving market success. Global productivity, profitability, and competitiveness are among our central concerns. Several of our research projects have applicability across national boundaries, and analysis of the role and impacts of regulation is central to many of our inquiries.
Please send comments and suggestions to popi-www@mit.edu