Roger Perlmutter Town Hall

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Peter Kim always used committees to make decisions - that does not work well. Perlmutter will go back to the Ed Scolnick approach. He will decide on compounds that become PCC, PCCs that go into man; and those that go to Ph3. I agree with this. There should be a focused vision in what MRL does. He will be and must be accountable for all the company effort and spending in research. In the end its going to be science, intuition, and luck that will improve R&D productivity and innovation - that has to come from the top.
 




Anonymous said:
Peter Kim always used committees to make decisions - that does not work well. Perlmutter will go back to the Ed Scolnick approach. He will decide on compounds that become PCC, PCCs that go into man; and those that go to Ph3. I agree with this. There should be a focused vision in what MRL does. He will be and must be accountable for all the company effort and spending in research. In the end its going to be science, intuition, and luck that will improve R&D productivity and innovation - that has to come from the top.
Click to expand...

Vagelos and Scolnick actually spoke to the scientists; research was initiated and defended by the scientists up the (limited number of) management layers. Scolnick was a tough personality to deal with; Vagelos more pleasant - but both were very strong scientists themselves. And [almost] every program was judged, throughout its life, on a scientific basis. And then came Peter Kim...He talked only to his VPs - no one seems to have vetted the science. And then I left, on my own, soon thereafter. No wonder internal research has suffered! Perlmutter could get back in touch with the science. He has the skills. But things may be too far gone.
 




Anonymous said:
Vagelos and Scolnick actually spoke to the scientists; research was initiated and defended by the scientists up the (limited number of) management layers. Scolnick was a tough personality to deal with; Vagelos more pleasant - but both were very strong scientists themselves. And [almost] every program was judged, throughout its life, on a scientific basis. And then came Peter Kim...He talked only to his VPs - no one seems to have vetted the science. And then I left, on my own, soon thereafter. No wonder internal research has suffered! Perlmutter could get back in touch with the science. He has the skills. But things may be too far gone.
Click to expand...

I agree Ed and Peter Kim had very different styles - both antagonized different parts of MRL. Obviously Ed made better choices then Peter Kim, but Ed also cut loose stuff we should have kept. And Peter Kim bought and kept alot of stuff we should have never kept. In both Marketing and R&D we know at least 80% of what we spend is wasted - we don't know which so we do it all - cuts will be made in both until the future profit needle changes direction. No amount of management "process" could do this this well. Perlmutter was brought in to make sure we cut research fat and not muscle going forward.
 




Anonymous said:
Peter Kim always used committees to make decisions - that does not work well. Perlmutter will go back to the Ed Scolnick approach. He will decide on compounds that become PCC, PCCs that go into man; and those that go to Ph3. I agree with this. There should be a focused vision in what MRL does. He will be and must be accountable for all the company effort and spending in research. In the end its going to be science, intuition, and luck that will improve R&D productivity and innovation - that has to come from the top.
Click to expand...

Thanks Roger for making an anonymous statement!
 




Anonymous said:
He will be and must be accountable for all the company effort and spending in research. In the end its going to be science, intuition, and luck that will improve R&D productivity and innovation - that has to come from the top.
Click to expand...

I can only hope that your faith in this man is warranted. You will find a split opinion about Perlmutter if you read the Amgen board. Some think he is brilliant while just as many give him as little respect as Kim gets on these boards. He has already received an outsized enticement to simply lure him to Merck. If he manages to get things done, even more and justifiably so. But, if this one person can't pull a rabbit out of his hat and save MRL, then what? Accountability is a label that is meaningless in the end. Do you think he is going to spend the rest of his retirement hanging his head in shame because he was unable fix all the problems and turn this research organization around. I don't think so, he will likely pat himself on his back for taking his best shot. So what if he gets bashed on these boards for his failed efforts. To the second point. I think your optimism is misplaced if you believe that Perlmutter's luck and intuition are going to deliver us from this hole we are in. The science is what's critical and for it to succeed it's up to everybody else doing Perlmutter's work that needs to be accountable. All I can conclude... is good luck with that.
 




Anonymous said:
Vagelos and Scolnick actually spoke to the scientists; research was initiated and defended by the scientists up the (limited number of) management layers. Scolnick was a tough personality to deal with; Vagelos more pleasant - but both were very strong scientists themselves. And [almost] every program was judged, throughout its life, on a scientific basis. And then came Peter Kim...He talked only to his VPs - no one seems to have vetted the science. And then I left, on my own, soon thereafter. No wonder internal research has suffered! Perlmutter could get back in touch with the science. He has the skills. But things may be too far gone.
Click to expand...

Scolnick essentially fired Perlmutter because he was a lazy, inattentive and an opportunistic pr*ck. He bogged down his duties just as badly as Peter Kim. Where is he just now? Let's see...Pacific coast somewhere.
 




Another endorsement for Merck management and Roger Perlmutter (Only if you think Jim Cramer's opinion has any value)

http://www.thestreet.com/story/12029874/1/cramer-outing-the-perpetual-losers--part-ii.html

Cramer: Outing the Perpetual Losers -- Part II
By Jim Cramer | Sep 08, 2013 | 01:31 PM EDT

Merck (MRK) -- can these guys get a little bold, at least? Can they even attempt to bring out shareholder value? Did they get anything at all from that Schering-Plough merger? Was there any gain there? What the heck is going on at this company that it seems, with everything they try, they can no longer pull anything off? Also, why the heck did they hire the chief scientist of Amgen (AMGN), of all places, when they got rid of the previous underperformer? Amgen? That's about the only biotech that hasn't produced anything new in years, hence that company's acquisition of Onyx. How could Merck be so obtuse? I kept thinking they Merck have to do something to bring out value -- perhaps split up the company and sell is animal-health division, like Pfizer (PFE) did. One day they will. But Merck may actually be the only major pharmaceutical company that's doing nothing at all to create value. Maybe it's anti-value-creation? One day value will be unlocked, but it is discouraging, and the Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust finally threw in the towel on this one.
 




almost 4 months since we heard "changes" were coming and all we have to show are some new acronyms... people are running on empty waiting for the other shoe to drop, droning on, looking like scared shells of who they used to be and all we get are trickles of non-information here and there and told to stay focused and we'll know soon. seriously??? get this bs done with already, and allow us to start hiring real talent again in the labs so we can replenish everything we have lost to those we short sightedly fired and who have jumped ship on their own. we need to get people focused back on their science again and start back up some REAL R&D. we need people back in this place who care about their work, not clock punchers and people who've had their souls crushed!

how the hell are we ever going to get back on track if we are constantly looking over our shoulder for the axe? we're spending so much time orchestrating this restructuring and making sure lips are sealed and information is relayed with strategic precision and synchronization... hope all the plotting is worth the productivity lag that it is causing now and we will continue to feel through 2014. it's time to get to work already!! oh what's this, another culture survey? good timing!
 




Anonymous said:
almost 4 months since we heard "changes" were coming and all we have to show are some new acronyms... people are running on empty waiting for the other shoe to drop, droning on, looking like scared shells of who they used to be and all we get are trickles of non-information here and there and told to stay focused and we'll know soon. seriously??? get this bs done with already, and allow us to start hiring real talent again in the labs so we can replenish everything we have lost to those we short sightedly fired and who have jumped ship on their own. we need to get people focused back on their science again and start back up some REAL R&D. we need people back in this place who care about their work, not clock punchers and people who've had their souls crushed!

how the hell are we ever going to get back on track if we are constantly looking over our shoulder for the axe? we're spending so much time orchestrating this restructuring and making sure lips are sealed and information is relayed with strategic precision and synchronization... hope all the plotting is worth the productivity lag that it is causing now and we will continue to feel through 2014. it's time to get to work already!! oh what's this, another culture survey? good timing!
Click to expand...

This is typical Perlmutter. He was the same at old Merck, and the same at Amgen. Three or four-day weekends jetting to his place in Santa Barbara or Washington, or Oregon, or Maine. Send all his "work" documents by Fed Express to where he would be "working" that long weekend. Followup with a phone call to his assistant (never Roger) to find out where the hell is that contract we need signed. "Oh he does those the 2nd week of every other month". "But we needed it last week!". "Sorry, those are his rules."

Good luck everybody.
 




Perlmutter has not accepted the fact that he must come out of retirement and accept this as a full time job. It will take all his skill and effort, and then some more, to lift the bow of this distraught ship. He should be busting his balls to launch this grand scheme but instead it simply meanders along. We are all waiting on him as projects move on autopilot at best. He expects greater commitment from the scientific staff but he does not demonstrate it himself. If he would do this reorg perhaps we can get this show on the road rather than listen to middle management tell us to sit tight and make sure our life preservers are within arms reach. Yeah, I'm feelin' the motivation! Please...just show me the door already.
 








Perlmutter is lookin' like a deer in the headlights except with a slightly sheepish grin. I think he knows something but I doubt it has anything to do with the successful turn around of MRL that everybody expects from him. Perhaps he is counting the $money$ he is getting for coming out of retirement for the next few years.
 








Perlmutter gave us bench people some real hope that he would change things. But it's like the song goes: meet the new boss, same as the old boss. His ideas are the same as every other big pharma disaster out there. Here's an innovative thought, let's export all our work to China. Like every other big pharma hasn't already tried it. There are so many ways to make MRL more efficient and productive, just ask any lowly bench level scientist and they'd give a dozen ways this company is messing things up at the most basic level.

People are even more afraid to speak up now than when PK was here. What a disaster this company has become. Morale at an all time low. Confidence in leadership has completely vanished. Slogans of transformation and change and right-size company abound, again.

There is no Steve Jobs or Elon Musk at the helm. The truly innovative people have left the company or are looking for a way out of this stifling environment.
We're all here to do nothing but collect a paycheck until this steaming pile of shit company gets bought out. What a mess.
 








Anonymous said:
Perlmutter gave us bench people some real hope that he would change things. But it's like the song goes: meet the new boss, same as the old boss. His ideas are the same as every other big pharma disaster out there. Here's an innovative thought, let's export all our work to China. Like every other big pharma hasn't already tried it. There are so many ways to make MRL more efficient and productive, just ask any lowly bench level scientist and they'd give a dozen ways this company is messing things up at the most basic level.

People are even more afraid to speak up now than when PK was here. What a disaster this company has become. Morale at an all time low. Confidence in leadership has completely vanished. Slogans of transformation and change and right-size company abound, again.

There is no Steve Jobs or Elon Musk at the helm. The truly innovative people have left the company or are looking for a way out of this stifling environment.
We're all here to do nothing but collect a paycheck until this steaming pile of shit company gets bought out. What a mess.
Click to expand...

Yep, that pretty much sums it up. Corporate version of North Korea. Speak up and you get sent to the gulag. Better to keep your mouth shut and pretend that you are doing ground-breaking science. By keeping your bench pretty, just like that picture above....your bench.
 




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