Video Interview—Allergan’s R&D officer David Nicholson

In the second part of our video interview series, we delve into the R&D strategy for Allergan, a company that last year was on the cusp of becoming subsumed in a major merger with Pfizer.

Now it’s forging its own path through a series of small to medium-sized biotech deals to build up its R&D pipeline and go “beyond Botox.” C. David Nicholson, chief R&D officer at Allergan, talked up the company’s innovation push and its growing pipeline.

He explained that Allergan is not looking for “me-too” medications, and talks about fishing in the large external world and engaging the “crowd of brains” to help find the next big innovation. And as Allergan’s executive team pushes for a better deal for patients on pricing, Nicholson talked about the company’s “social contract” on pricing, and not making “egregious price hikes.”