Useful Advices - Business

Yesterday, Singapore’s exchange market was rife with speculation about a possible merger of the two land transport giants: ComfortDelGro and SMRT. As a result, their share prices skyrocketed between 5.9% and 6.6% at closing.

ComfortDelGro is the “world’s second l

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

argest public listed land transport company with a fleet of more than 40,000 vehicles”. It is the parent company for Comfort and SBS Transit which are the market leaders in taxi and bus industry in Singapore respectively. SMRT, the market leader for train services

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

is a multi-modal public transport company offering train, bus and taxi services, as well as expertise in consultancy and project management in railway systems. Both companies have advertising arms.

In a newspaper report by The Straits Times (attached below), it

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

was reported that ComfortDelGro has submitted a position paper to the Ministry of Transport, giving their two-cent worth on how the public transport industry should be structured. Two specific suggestions are given: to merge with rival SMRT to create one big giant

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

transport company, or to have two separate companies with different areas of expertise – one running buses while another operating trains. (Note: It should be quite obvious that SBS Transit will be the natural bus company and SMRT will be the train company).

It i

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

not hard to fathom why ComfortDelGro is keen to push for the two scenarios because they will have the upper hand in both scenarios. For the first scenario, if they were to merge with SMRT, it would most likely to be a take-over exercise rather than merger. With a

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

market capitalisation of S$4.8 million over SMRT’s S$2.6 million and a ferocious appetite for aggressive acquisition, it would be quite unthinkable that they are willing to “merge” with SMRT. I speculate that they would have said something like this in their posi

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

ion paper:

Having a one giant company would create a company that can offer a holistic transport solution to Singapore with economy of scale. Also, by taking over merging with SMRT, we will hasten the process of achieving our mission of creating the w

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

rld’s number one land transport operator. This would be Singapore’s pride: the largest land transport operator which is profitable.”

For the second scenario, though left with buses only, they will be able to use buses to compete with the trains by of

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

fering point-to-point services and direct bus services which are what the passengers wanted – faster and more direct services without the hassle of transfers.

Hitherto, SMRT has not yet put forth any position paper. Judging by their rival’s move, I would think th

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

y would be forced to come out with one. Already, they are managing shareholder and market’s expectation by responding to media about the position paper submitted by ComfortDelGro. A day after the news was reported, SMRT responded:

“(SMRT) Having opera

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

ed trains and buses for over five years, we have grown to understand the synergistic benefits of a multimodal model. This is our preferred mode.”

What could we read from this statement? It could mean that they are supportive of the merger to create

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

one big giant company, but this is quite unlikely as they will be a takeover subject. Another possibility is that they are against the one-bus-one-rail industry structure advocated by their rival. It is not hard to think why they are against bus-rail competition b

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

cause the bus company could employ a bus network strategy that degrade the attractiveness of feeder buses to train stations while offering direct trunk services that offer door-step services or point-to-point services to compete with the trains (which SBS Transit

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

s already doing so by replacing feeder services with passing through trunk services). Without the support of feeder buses, the trains will be left with pockets of small catchments area around the train stations.

What then is the government preferred industry stru

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

cture? Minister for Transport Raymond Lim had previously state that there is no sacred cow that cannot be slaughtered, but they would not be slayed for the sake of doing so. Ultimately, with a pragmatic government, what is more important is to find solutions that

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

chieve the outcome they want, rather than be engaged in an academic argument that debate which theoretical model best fit Singapore.

So far, the Ministry has made clear that in the next 10 to 15 years, the key solution to land transportation is to make public tra

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

sport more attractive. It can no longer act as a captive market which attracts users who are unable to afford a car. As part of the land transport industry review, Ministry of Transport and Land Transport Authority have lately engaged the public in first of the ma

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

ny focus groups. One issue touched on is the possibility of bus route-tendering system, where bus routes are centrally planned by an independent body while the operation of the routes is being awarded to bus transport companies through competitive bidding.

In lig

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

t of this, you might want to add one more possible industry structure to ComfortDelGro’s list: one rail company with multiple bus companies with route tendering.

Let us continue to wait in anticipation for the final outcome of the public transport industry review

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.usefuladvices.org.ua/article/461/usefuladvices-A-Tale-Of-Two-Companies.html">A Tale Of Two Companies</a>

BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.usefuladvices.org.ua/article/461/usefuladvices-A-Tale-Of-Two-Companies.html]A Tale Of Two Companies[/url]

Online work is as diverse as on site work. Online work is demanding because the owner needs to work alone, be a self-starter, and be able to handle a lot of text material on a screen. The ephemerality of the web is another issue - many websites seem to disappear as soon as they spring up, and Silliman suggests the need for archiving online work is a problem that needs to be resolved. A key issue with online work is keeping it fresh, and not letting people forget about the space because out of sight, out of mind.

If you are just starting out in construction, the process of bidding may be a little confusing. When you are drawing up an estimate, you are basically calculating the total expense of the project you want to bid on. The first step in creating an accurate estimate is to figure in all of the materials that you will need to complete the job. Contractors depend largely on their reputations. If you use quality materials and give accurate estimates, you will gain a reputation of the highest caliber.

Small businesses thrive when productivity is maximized. The best way to maximize productivity is through efficient technology. Efficient technology for small businesses probably will not create the next great product or service, but it will help you with everything else your company must do to get that product or service to market and to deliver it to the customer.

Tags

Links

Useful Advices - A Tale Of Two Companies

Related Articles: