A Conversation with Doug Durand
A Conversation with Doug Durand
Meet Doug Durand
Doug Durand is graduate of the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy. During his last two years at the University he was elected to the State Legislature from his home district in Pawtucket, RI. He served one term before joining Merck & Co. where he had a tenure of over 20 years in positions of increasing responsibility in Sales and Marketing. In 1995 he joined TAP Pharmaceuticals (a joint venture between Abbott and Takeda) as VP of Sales. He left TAP in April 1996 to return to Astra Merck (a joint venture between Merck and Astra) as a senior marketing executive, where he went through two mergers before retiring. In 2000 he joined ePocrates as VP of sales before retiring permanently in 2001.
He was the whistleblower in the Department of Justice’s investigation into TAP Pharmaceuticals and Zeneca for Medicare fraud in the prostate cancer treatment market.
Mr. Durand is the founder and managing director of Durand Venture Associates, LLC., an angel investment firm that focuses on healthcare. He is long term board member of Oligomerix, which has a drug candidate for the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease that is focused on removing tau from the brain. The compound is presently in Phase Ia testing and has garnered long term grant support from the NIH and National Institute for Aging.
Mr Durand is currently the President and CEO of NanoDetection Technology, Inc., his longest term angel investment. NanoDetection Technology has a diagnostic instrument that has a unique biochip. This biochip is the core of the system. The 25 discrete light-sensing diodes enable multiplex capability and unparalleled sensitivity, enabling detection of light as low as 2.5E -15 the photons of a 100-watt light bulb. The NDT system holds the potential to allow cost effective and accurate, speedy results in testing for the human, veterinary, and food safety markets.
Meet Your Host, Alan Weiss
Alan Weiss is one of those rare people who can say he is a consultant, speaker, and author and mean it.
His consulting firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has attracted clients such as Merck, Hewlett-Packard, GE, Mercedes-Benz, State Street Corporation, Times Mirror Group, The Federal Reserve, The New York Times Corporation, Toyota, and over 500 other leading organizations. He has served on several boards of directors in various capacities.
His prolific publishing includes over 500 articles and 60 books, including his best-seller, Million Dollar Consulting (from McGraw-Hill) now in its 30th year and sixth edition. His newest is Your Legacy is Now: Life is not about a search for meaning but the creation of meaning (Routledge, 2021). His books have been on the curricula at Villanova, Temple University, and the Wharton School of Business, and have been translated into 15 languages.
Get to know AlanShow Notes
I met Doug at Merck where he worked as a sales executive and I was an external consultant. Some years later, he called me from his current pharma company and asked my advice about an ethical issue he was seeing. About five years later, he was presented with a huge (listen to find out how much) “whistleblowers award” for turning the dangerous practices in for the government to investigate and eliminate.
We talk here about the courage and risks of being a whistleblower (two such people formerly employed by Boeing have since died, one by suicide, one by unknown causes, and Doug faced physical threats) and why they are needed more than ever today. We discuss whether drug prices are reasonable in light of the investment in creating them and, if efficacious, obtaining FDA approval. The results might surprise you.
We also discuss the high mortality diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and cancer, and whether too much is spent on “cure” and treatment at the expense of investment in prevention. The issue of extending life, but with quality, is raised, as is the need for certain types of surgery being abandoned.
Also examined is the ironic serendipity of drug creation, aside from huge, targeted investment, which we’ve seen result in weight loss, hair growth, and the eradication of African River Blindness. Sometimes, even with drugs, it’s better to be lucky than good.
And don’t miss our focus on opioids and the absence of whistleblowers among people who should have acted but didn’t throughout this crisis.
Alan Weiss’s The Uncomfortable Truth® is a weekly broadcast from “The Rock Star of Consulting,” Alan Weiss, who holds forth with his best (and often most contrarian) ideas about society, culture, business, and personal growth. His 60+ books in 12 languages, and his travels to, and work in, 50 countries contribute to a fascinating and often belief-challenging 20 minutes that might just change your next 20 years.
Introduction to the show recorded by Connie Dieken
