In our ongoing quest to meet with as many people as we possibly can, we caught up with distinguished OLIP alumnus, Jon Feairs, Senior Manager of External Relations at AstraZeneca.
Over the lunch Mr. Feairs kindly brought along for us all, we received some insight into an area many of us do not have expertise in – pharmaceuticals. With his wealth of knowledge of the pharma-industry, Mr. Feairs took us through the process that AstraZeneca goes through to create a drug. It starts with substantial investments in research, development and marketing a new drug for consumers. We hear a lot about “Big Pharma” in the media and our conversation with Mr. Feairs confirmed that the industry is complex and multifaceted.
Jon Feairs, Senior Manager of External Relations at AstraZeneca with the 2016-2017 OLIP interns
Creating new drugs is often an expensive, multi-year process that could result in no return on massive investments if the drug ultimately fails at any number of stages in development and regulation. A drug company may develop 40 new drugs but only have one that meets all of the criteria of a successful pharmaceutical. A successful drug will work as intended, pass the necessary certifications, and not cause any unforeseen issues. It was fascinating to hear about AstraZeneca’s ongoing projects and to look back on Mr. Feairs’ time as an OLIP intern.
Thank you Mr. Feairs and Astra Zeneca for meeting with us and for your continued support of the Ontario Legislature Internship Programme!
OLIP Unplugged 