The best job in pharma? Per Falk is about to find out

When Per Falk, Ferring’s chief science officer, assumes the additional responsibility of becoming president of the executive committee on January 1 next year, he will be the envy of many big pharma leaders.

The freedom from short-term shareholder concerns that is a privilege of privately-held companies, coupled with Ferring’s significant investment and ambition in rebuilding its pipeline and a drive to serve patients globally with cutting-edge assets that nonetheless have favorable risk profiles, make it a uniquely exciting position to make a difference in healthcare.

But he will have big shoes to fill. Since the current president of the executive board, Michel Pettigrew, joined Ferring in 2001, its annual revenues have rocketed from 345 million euros ($391 million at current exchange rates) to nearly six times that.