Fall 2008
“Issues Affecting Reputation Management and Strategic Communications”
Risk and Reputation in Biotech and Pharma
Our Tolerance for Risk
P
eople say actions speak louder than words,
and that reputation is the result of an
organization’s actions.
With the recent demise of Lehman Brothers, the
federal bailout of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and
AIG, and the discounted sale of Morgan Stanley to
Bank of America, the landscape of the financial
industry and Wall Street is forever changed. And
those left standing will have to work very hard to
maintain strong reputations in a tarnished industry.
Some industries may face greater challenges when it comes to managing
reputations. For example, a plumbing company risks damaging property,
Solving the Mystery of Science and Reputation
Science and the mysteries of biotechnology are shrouded in the
seemingly unfathomable breadth of numbers. Humans are comprised
of billions of cells and infinite complexity created over billions of
years, so conversation about the fleeting aspects of reputation is
humbled by these numbers. Yet the veneer of reputation is our first
experience in any communication and often the sole basis for decision
making. People hire, invest, join and believe in companies based upon
the intangibles of an idea—reputation.
We make decisions based upon the track record of the management,
star scientists or persona of a lab, but how do we ascribe trust to a
company that is mostly in the discovery business? Does a track record
in science increase your chance of future discovery? History says no.
Great discoveries have more often come from unknown people than
great companies. Do they wish us to invest in or work for them based
upon a promise? Do we go along based on blind faith? Hardly.
Science is about proof. Document your findings and have your work
peer-reviewed. So far, the best way to establish reputation in the
biotech field is to attract the very best and brightest scientists and
provide them with necessary funding while maintaining a quirky
combination of focus and flexibility. It also helps to discover a cure
or new therapy for mankind. Science is an endeavor that thrives in
collaboration and yet it may be individual drive and diligence (and
blind random luck) that one scientist achieves greatness while others
labor in obscurity. The famous of science were just ordinary until
their discovery or work leading to some breakthrough made them
famous. If you can’t do this well, you might acquire or be acquired by
a company that can.
vol.8 no.
while a bank risks mismanaging customers’ assets; the
inherent risk depends on the nature of the business.
Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies seem
particularly challenged in maintaining strong reputa-
tions – these companies provide treatments that alter
people’s bodies. Sounds pretty risky, and it is.
While polls reveal that while the majority of the
population believes pharmaceutical companies have
the public’s best interest at heart, there’s still a large
population of skeptics. A 2005 Kaiser Family
Foundation poll found 70 percent of people think
pharma companies “put profits before people.” In
1997, 80 percent of respondents to a Harris Interactive poll said the
pharma industry was doing the right thing for customers .
{ R E P U TAT I O N IN B I O T E C H - continued on PG 2 }
Competition for brilliant talent is intense. While the supply is finite,
the need is conversely large. So it is important that a company
promote its culture of innovation and excellence to prospective
employees and investors—or as countries compete for talent, an entire
country may need to develop its reputation for creativity and
accomplishment. Would you rather build a biotech facility in Topeka,
Kan., or in Cambridge, Mass.? Some places have reputations as
centers of excellence. As the ancient centers of commerce in the old
world may have developed in Venice and Brussels, thus centers of
scientific discovery have sprung up close to major universities and in
locations with access to capital and the ability to attract and nurture
enlightened experts. The Massachusetts Biotech Council has done a
good job assuring Massachusetts’ future as one such center of
excellence.
Darwin looked at evolution as life coming out of a primordial soup.
Reputation is like that – clarity comes out of complexity. Reputation
is based on the composite of experiences to which people have been
exposed.
In this issue of the Mt. Vernon Report, we scratch the surface of the
reputation of biotechnology. We present some new thinking about
why we need communication to advance science and revisit some
proven ideas for creating trust. Please take a few minutes away from
the microscope of the natural world to examine the DNA of
reputation.
Peter Morrissey can be contacted at peter@morrisseyco.com
Reputation Excellence: www.morrisseyco.com/blog
{ R E P U TAT I O N IN B I O T E C H - continued from PG 1 }
Best Practices
Biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies have always been
responsible for protecting their patients, and that remains true today.
The challenge is that, inherent in their business, is the risk that a patient
could be harmed by a product. How can companies maintain this
reputation when a therapy has an unintended adverse effect, during
trials or after it’s already on the market?
Tylenol® is the textbook case study; in 1983, Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J)
premier product, extra-strength Tylenol, was tampered with and six
consumers died of cyanide poisoning. The company opened its doors
to the media and communicated honestly and openly, even when the
information could have been harmful. For example, the company stated
no cyanide was used on its premises, and then corrected that statement
a day later. Instead of embarrassing the company, J&J earned points for
openness and gained credibility.
The company recalled all extra-strength Tylenol capsules (31 million
bottles), suspended advertising, and reached out to health care
professionals. While J&J knew the tampering had not taken place
during the manufacturing process, it did not deny any connection
between the product and the murders. The company offered a
$100,000 reward for the killer, and when it surveyed consumers, found
that 87 percent of users realized J&J was not responsible for the deaths.
Supported by a huge media campaign about its commitment to safety,
Johnson & Johnson successfully relaunched the product in a
triple-safety-sealed, tamper-resistant package. However, with another
poisoning of extra-strength Tylenol caplets in 1986, the company
ceased production of the capsules.
Technology was vastly different in 1982 – J&J received much of its
information from calls coming in from the media, and communicated
urgently with hospitals, doctors and distributors through telegrams. For
a pharmaceutical or biotechnology company today, the speed at which we
distribute and receive information make effective reputation management
increasingly challenging; we have more communication channels than ever
before, and less control over information. With blogs, social networking
and the Internet, information is distributed almost instantly to any and
all audiences. These channels enable rumors and speculation, which
spread like wildfire and can have a lasting impact.
Best practices for a pharmaceutical or biotechnology company whose
drug has an unintended adverse effect are the same as for any company
facing a crisis. In communication planning, companies must consider all
audiences, as well as tactics to quickly and effectively communicate with
those audiences.
Gaining Trust
It takes time and a concerted, consistent effort to build a strong
reputation and engender trust. Some companies are disclosing more
information, and some focus communications on their charitable
contributions, like Merck and its efforts combating River Blindness
disease.
Some active steps companies are taking towards increasing consumer
trust include :
pg.
2
Steps to take include:
1 Be honest – communicating in an open and timely manner will help
you gain credibility and respect.
2 Develop a clear, straightforward position – let stakeholders know
where you stand.
3 Involve top management – they’re the human face of the company;
they must be visible and informed.
4 Activate third-party support – objective credentials will help you gain
support.
5 Establish an on-site presence – when the media covers a fire or a riot,
they don’t do it from the studio; if your situation is site-specific,
executives, particularly key spokespeople, should be on location.
6 Centralize communications – identify a spokesperson/spokespeople
who will speak on behalf of the company.
7 Cooperate with media – it’s likely a reporter will print a story with or
without your input; working with them will ensure your company is
represented.
8 Remember employees – they can be your best ambassadors and your
greatest ally; keep them informed.
9 Maintain perspective & look ahead – keep a level head; acknowledge
the crisis, and focus on what the company is doing to address the
situation.
10 Monitor and evaluate the process – survey all publics consistently to
determine which aspects of the program are successful, and be
willing and quick to alter those that are not resonating.
• Pfizer recently began disclosing grants and contributions
(political and non).
• AstraZeneca redesigned its website to make clinical trial information
easier to locate.
• And on behalf of its pharma/biotech clients, Porter Novelli does
not issue communications using third-company affiliates, and only
uses celebrity spokespeople when they are actual patients.
Pfizer, for example, has consciously changed its communications policy
to be more open. The company has implemented: top-tier journalist
audits/surveys; a journalist outreach engagement program bringing
journalists and bloggers in to learn about the company, and visiting
newsrooms; journalist education initiatives on topics such as the
difference between side effects and adverse effects; an agency day
bringing 15 US PR agencies in to Pfizer to learn about the company’s
business and journalist engagement strategies; and a weekly update to
keep worldwide communications managers on the same page.
Reputation, and building and maintaining a strong reputation, should
be something your company or organization works towards daily; not
something you think about only in times of crisis. There are many
strategies that can be done proactively so that if and when disaster does
strike, it’s merely a bump in the road and not a defining moment.
~Megan Page
 “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.”
~Marie Curie

I
n the last edition of The Mount Vernon Report we examined the the fight to improve U.S. education. The program’s success in Cambridge
importance – and power – of corporate social responsibility. As the led Biogen Idec to open another Community Lab at its research campus
lead article stated: “It is no longer good enough to produce the best, in San Diego, California.
cheapest widget; you must also function in a socially responsible
way” (Managing Your Reputation Through Social Responsibility, With access to top-of-the-line facilities and modern equipment, the
Summer 2008). Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen Idec, one of the largest Community Lab helps bring science to life. Students participate
biotechnology companies in the world, has found a unique way year-round in hands-on experiments like amplifying and
to integrate social responsibility within their walls. examining their own DNA and diagnosing a sample
patient based on genetic profiling. Biogen Idec has
In 2001, Biogen Idec CEO James Mullen and created full-time staff positions to run the Lab,
then-Cambridge Mayor Anthony Galluccio and also encourages employees to volunteer
were discussing the need for new their time at the Lab as student mentors
programs that excite young students and role models. These volunteers also
about science and encourage them to
pursue it in school and as a career.
Particularly troubling to Mullen
Leading By work alongside teachers to broaden
their knowledge, create forums to
share best practices and stay abreast
and Galluccio was the United
States’ science and math education
standings – a problem that
Example of the most recent developments in
biotechnology education.

persists today. The Organization In addition to building our future

for Economic Cooperation and BIOGEN IDEC’S COMMUNITY workforce, the program supports
Development’s most recent trien- L A B A D D R E S S E S N AT I O N A L local communities, which is what
nial Program for International makes it so successful. Since the
Student Assessment demonstrated E D U C AT I O N C O N C E R N S Lab opened six years ago, over
that the U.S. fell below the OECD 10,000 middle and high school
average in both science and math. Our students, 400 teachers, and 300 Biogen
country’s score in science was worse than Idec employee volunteers have worked
72 percent of the OECD countries. The math together to make science exciting.
score was also disheartening – the U.S. placed
below 83 percent of OECD countries. Biogen Idec understands that education is a
community concern – and as part of our community, the
Just one year after Mullen and Galluccio’s conversation, Biogen Idec company has acted in the spirit of integrity and innovation. Beyond simply
opened its first Community Lab – a 1,100 square foot state-of-the-art being an admired corporate citizenship effort, Biogen Idec’s Community
laboratory space dedicated to educating local students and teachers at no Lab is making a real difference, and the company intends to continue grow-
cost to the community. Charged with transforming today’s students into ing the Lab to reach and inspire even more students and teachers every year.
the discoverers of tomorrow, the Community Lab is an important part of ~Sarah Gerrol

“Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination.”
~John Dewey (noted education psychologist)

pg.
3
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Reputation Advisor
Common Biotechnology Facts You Should • Industrial biotechnology applications have led to cleaner
processes that produce less waste and use less energy and water
Know in such industrial sectors as chemicals, pulp and paper, textiles,
food, energy, and metals and minerals. For example, most laun
• Biotechnology is the applied science of using living organisms
dry detergents produced in the United States contain
and their by-products for commercial development and is
biotechnology-based enzymes.
helping to transform the lives of millions of people around
the world.
• DNA fingerprinting, a biotech process, has dramatically
improved criminal investigation and forensic medicine, as well as
• Below is a very brief snapshot of the many facets of
afforded significant advances in anthropology and wildlife man
biotechnology including important dates, innovative research
agement.
milestones and current educational programs.
• The biotech industry is regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug
• Biotechnology is more than a $50 billion a year industry that
Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection Agency
has produced some 160 drugs and vaccines.
(EPA) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA).
• There are 1,473 biotechnology companies in the United States,
Sources: Biotechnology Industry Organization; Biotecterms.org
of which 314 are publicly held.
~Margaret Brady
• There are more than 400 biotech drug products and vaccines
currently in clinical trials targeting more than 200 diseases,
including various cancers, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease,
diabetes, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and arthritis.
“The important thing in science
• Biotechnology is responsible for hundreds of medical diagnostic is not so much to obtain new
tests that keep the blood supply safe from the AIDS virus and
detect other conditions early enough to be successfully treated.
facts as to discover new ways of
Home pregnancy tests are also biotechnology diagnostic thinking about them”
products. ~William Lawrence Bragg
• Environmental biotechnology products make it possible to clean
up hazardous waste more efficiently by harnessing pollution-
eating microbes without the use of caustic chemicals.

pg.
4