Flush with Cash, Drugmakers Go on the Prowl

It's a time of huge opportunity and risk for drugmakers. Some with big cash hoards will start snatching smaller players, while others will try to bulk up fast to avoid becoming prey

BusinessWeek, October 30, 2008 — Andrew Witty, the new chief executive of giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), surveys the wreckage of the global financial meltdown and sees an upside. With pharmaceutical stocks at record lows, it's a good time to acquire biotech companies and other assets that could drive Glaxo's growth for years. Its midsize rival Wyeth (WYE) is also on the prowl—but there's a difference. Faced with a shrinking market valuation, new CEO Bernard Poussot may have to bulk up to ward off larger predators.

Witty and Poussot are two of seven new faces who have taken over at major pharmaceutical companies since 2006. It's a massive changing of the guard, and it comes at a time of both huge risks and irresistible opportunities.