Brian D. Smith

Professor Brian D Smith is an academic, author and advisor whose work focuses on how the life sciences industry (pharma, medtech and related sectors) is evolving and how its firms adapt to compete in their changing sociological and technological environment. He spent 20 years working in the pharmaceutical and medical technology sectors, first as a Research Chemist and then in an ascending series of marketing roles. Since 1998, he has divided his time between academic research, writing and helping executive teams develop and execute new strategies and business models. He has published over 300 articles and papers, which can be seen at www.pragmedic.com. He completed his PhD, under the supervision of Professor Malcolm McDonald, at Cranfield School of Management and he is now a Visiting Professor at the Hertfordshire University Business School in the UK and an Adjunct Professor at SDA Bocconi in Milan, Italy. As an advisor, he has worked with many of the leading firms in the medical technology and pharmaceutical sectors. His research to date has covered several topics of direct practical relevance to life science companies. His first book "Making Marketing Happen", explored why some firms make strong strategy and others don't. He then worked with two of his Cranfield colleagues, Professors Malcolm McDonald and Keith Ward, to develop the linkage between Marketing Strategy and Share Price. This work is described in "Marketing Due Diligence". Next, he examined how firms create the market insight on which strong strategies are built. This was published in "Creating Market Insight", written with Dr Paul Raspin. His fourth book "The Future of Pharma", looks at how the pharmaceutical industry will evolve and the capabilities needed to succeed in that sector and his fifth expanded that work to life sciences more generally and the process of selecting and transforming business models. "Leadership in the Life Sciences" built on that work, describing the lessons C-suite executives had learned about leading in pharma and medtech companies. His seventh book, Brand Therapy, provided a detailed manual for using strategic planning tools in the specific conditions of the life sciences market. His latest book, "New Drugs, Fair Prices", takes an ecosystem view of pharmaceutical innovation and how it can be managed for sustainable, affordable new medicines.