The pharmaceutical industry may take risks with R&D, but its disciplined approach to the balance sheet has helped insulate it from the rapidly spreading global credit mess. But even pharma will not be completely shielded

The pharmaceutical industry may take risks with R&D, but its disciplined approach to the balance sheet has helped insulate it from the rapidly spreading global credit mess. But even pharma will not be completely shielded

It looks like the biggest strategic gulf in the industry: focus or diversify? If the CEO thinks he can't rely on R&D to grow his way out of the industry's revenue hole, get ready to live alongside generics and OTC businesses--though he'll downplay to investors the risks of managing different businesses by stressing the commonalities with the core branded efforts and probably won't move into wholly non-pharma businesses. If he's still committed to R&D--get ready for diversification of other sorts, and some pretty clever financial tactics.