Who needs those pesky scientists? At least those who work at big pharma? After all, the best ones want to work at smaller biotechs, right? And those left behind have no idea how to innovate. Says who? Chris Viehbacher, that’s who. The Sanofi ceo let loose at the CED Life Sciences Conference this week, MedCity News reports, and was not shy about saying what he thinks. Asked about investing in internal R&D versus smaller biotechs, Viehbacher quickly acknowledged the philosophy behind recent moves to cut R&D costs, which are being slashed by 12 percent from 2008 levels to about $1.1 billion, excluding Genzyme, which Sanofi purchased last year. Those leafy R&D enclaves, though, are prime targets.
