Roy Vagelos, a highly regarded pharmaceutical executive who spent two decades at Merck, including 10 years as CEO, has often said that “research remains my life blood,” and indeed, he has stayed active in the industry since his retirement from Merck in 1994. For example, he is chairman of the board of two small drug companies, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Theravance, and in 2004 co-authored a book entitled, Medicine, Science, and Merck . Vagelos recently spoke with Robbie Shell, editorial director of Knowledge at Wharton, and Steve Guglielmi, Knowledge at Wharton senior editor, about the future of the pharmaceutical industry, including competition from generics, the impact of outsourcing, biotech alliances, pricing strategies, and the next big drug breakthroughs.

Roy Vagelos p odcast on April 10, 2006

Roy Vagelos, a highly regarded pharmaceutical executive who spent two decades at Merck, including ten years as CEO, has often said that “research remains my life blood”.…