A Statisticians Career in the Pharmaceutical Industry: The Early Years

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A Statisticians Career in the Pharmaceutical
Industry The Early Years

• Richard Grove
• Senior Statistician, GlaxoSmithKline
• OR Society/RSS Careers Fair 2006, University of
  Birmingham

Note The views expressed in this presentation
are those of the presenter and not of
GlaxoSmithKline.
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My route to GlaxoSmithKline

• Sheffield Hallam University (1994-98)
• BSc Applied Statistics
• Included a 1-year Industrial Placement with
  Ciba-Geigy/Novartis in Horsham, W. Sussex
• Southampton University (1998-99)
• MSc in Stats with Applications in Medicine
• GSK (1999 onwards)
• via SmithKline Beecham and the merger with GW

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Whistle-stop Tour of Statistics in Research and
Development

• Pre-clinical
• Identifying molecules that could become medicines
• Phase I
• Healthy volunteers
• Phase II
• Small scale studies in patients
• Phase III
• Pivotal efficacy studies
• Phase IV
• Post-marketing studies

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What Happened First?

• Training!
• Processes
• Statistics
• Outside of the Office!
• Set Free?
• Not yet!
• Involved in reporting of multiple trials
• Helped design set-up of a Phase IIIb program

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As I have developed.

• Increased responsibility for statistical content
  of studies
• Statistical knowledge widened
• Greater interaction with customers
• Softer skills improved
• Influencing
• Organisational
• Non-project activities
• Supervisory skills

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Where I am today?

• Project Statistician
• Responsible for all statistics input across
  compounds
• Input into clinical development plan
• Develop statistical solutions to help answer
  teams questions
• Work in cross-functional teams
• Communicate with Managers/Colleagues
• Gaining a wider knowledge of statistics
• Work on other individual stats projects

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What have I gained from GSK?

• Developed knowledge interest in statistics
• Developed non-statistical skills
• Got to work with some great people,
  professionally and socially
• Enjoyed good rewards
• Have helped patients

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Looking to the future.

• Continuing professional development
• Develop skills of an effective project
  statistician
• Carry on enjoying working in the industry
• Benefits of RSS membership
• Benefits of PSI membership
• Help support new statisticians joining our
  industry

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Questions?