Stories about: Purdue Pharma

As CIO at Purdue Pharma LP, Larry Pickett likes to have his head in the cloud, and it's going to save his company a projected $2.5 million over the next five years.

Last summer, about 30 hand-picked IT managers convened in an executive classroom for the third session of CIO University, a leadership development program for would-be CIOs. The agenda was chock-full of sessions covering best practices for stakeholder management along with role-playing exercises to explore the Thomas-Kilmann model of conflict resolution. Guest speakers included C-level executives as well as former attendees who had gone on to become CIOs. A post-session happy hour and dinner gave participants a chance to network, exchange insights and simply blow off steam.

The old adage "no risk, no reward" speaks closely to Larry Pickett's career path to becoming CIO at Purdue Pharma. Moving out of Glaxo (GSK) , and leaving behind years at a top company in his field, was the chance he had to take to become the leader he wanted to be.

Practical advice from Purdue Pharma CIO Larry Pickett.

For well over two years now, every single bottle of OxyContin that's bound for either Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, or US-based H.D. Smith, a midsize drug wholesaler, has been slapped with a special label that's hailed as the solution to the world's counterfeit drug problem

As an undercover agent with the US Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food and Drug Administration, Aaron Graham saw firsthand how counterfeit drugs can slip into the pharmaceutical supply chain. Graham, now VP and chief security officer for Purdue Pharma, once posed as the manager of an "institutional pharmacy" selling drugs at a discount to secondary wholesalers who were then supposed to sell them to nursing homes. Soon after he began, his phone started ringing. Dozens of smaller pharmaceutical wholesale companies were calling, desperate to buy his drugs. These secondary or "grey market" wholesalers scour the country and the world for low-price drugs they can sell back to major wholesalers for a profit. In addition to trawling for institutional pharmacies, some secondary wholesalers have been known to purchase counterfeit drugs from criminal organizations in places such as China, Thailand or Colombia.

Having a capable successor means your own career can advance. And keeps recruiters' hands off your best talent

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