Project Portfolio Risk Management in Pharmaceutical Companies in Current Russian Market Conditions: Case Study of Company in Big Pharma Category

At present, the Russian pharmaceutical market is subject to significant changes, which have a significant impact on the portfolio of projects of pharmaceutical companies. To maximize the return on the project portfolio, these companies need an integrated mechanism to assess external factors and associated portfolio risks, and to develop appropriate risk management methodologies and strategies. To address these challenges current level of portfolio risk management in pharmaceutical companies is insufficient. As a result of the research, five industry-specific groups of projects were identified in the company's project portfolio: projects for cooperation with doctors and pharmacists; projects for interaction with patients; projects for interaction with the state and public organizations; projects related to state regulation and production projects. It was revealed that the project portfolio risk management strategies depend on such factors of business department as (a) the number of product portfolio diseases; (b) the level of market competition; (c) the strength of state regulation of the market. The most significant risk factors are regulatory factors at project level and economic factors at portfolio level. Based on the results of the research the company was given recommendations on developing a formalized portfolio risk management process, the main participants of which will be the project manager and the project office, and implementation of such tools to support the risk management process as a risk register of implemented projects, a template for qualitative risk assessment, a simulation model for quantitative risk assessment and a list of statistical data.