"Don’t conform to what people want – take risks. The people who make a big difference are the ones who take risks in uncertain times"
How did you come to your current position as Head of Biosimilars at Mundipharma?
I created VectorLab with Marc de Garidel, the Chairman of Ipsen. We needed funding to develop our Onco/Haemato early stage compound, so I met with Alberto Martinez the CEO of Mundipharma, and we discussed funding. I was telling him I was the Lead of Biosimilars at Amgen in Europe and then Head of Biosimilars for Shire around the world, and he was interested. Then a few months later, Chris Surridge, who is the Director of Strategy and Commercial Excellence at Mundipharma International, came back to me and said he wanted to talk biosimilars with me. He asked me if I would come to work in the UK, and I said why not? At that time Mundipharma was about to split the responsibility for the commercial oncology and biosimilar platforms and they sought to really lead in biosimilars, and they proposed that I do that, and I took the challenge.
What fuelled your interest in biosimilars?
For a few years biosimilars have been a very key segment in the biologics world and it has become one of the fastest-growing specialties today – from a business standpoint it is very important. As well, there is a real need in terms of savings. There is constant innovation in medicines and biosimilars are needed to create savings in order to allow the healthcare budget to be sustainable.
On a more personal standpoint, I am a pharmacist by training, and I had cancer myself; thirteen years ago I had leukaemia. At that time I was leading the oncology business of Amgen in France, and I was very privileged and lucky to get the best treatments. But for many people there is not that possibility; it’s not fair and it’s not noble. So if we can remedy that situation, it’s something that makes a lot of sense and something that, from a humanistic standpoint, makes sense as well.
What continues to drive you forward in your career?
It has always been the challenge that has motivated me – the opportunity to take risks and the possibility of working with very high level, clever and diverse people. Environment is also very important, and this is one of the reasons I joined Alberto and the Mundipharma network. I’ve worked in big companies but have built my own company as well – some kind of a marginal animal within the whole pharmaceutical landscape. And I like environments that really accept and respect strong personalities and people thinking differently. In that regard, I am in the right place here in Mundipharma.
How does Mundipharma compare to other companies?
It’s very fast. There’s a lot of agile decision making; we have access to the real decision making people. It’s a family owned company and these people are very willing to support innovative ideas. We don’t have enormous amounts of resources; we have to work a lot. We are very empowered at this level; in the same day you go from very strategic questions to extremely operational ones. It’s very diverse, it’s very business orientated, so I like it.
What differences have you noticed between the larger and smaller companies that you have worked in during your career?
They are very different. When you are working as a junior at a big company you learn how to work, you learn how to structure. It’s a lot of process, you need a lot of rigour; everything is data driven. When you come to smaller companies you don’t have a lot of data, so you don’t have 100% of the data to decide – you decide with 60-70% of the data, so there’s more risk, but it’s quite complementary as I see it. If you were to ask me where the fun is, I would say in the mid to small companies.
Who has inspired you during your career?
My dad. He was a retail pharmacist and led a company which is more than 1,500 people. He inspired me a lot, even though I decided not to go with the family thing because I did not feel I needed to be the same as my dad. Additionally, my uncle inspired me, despite being in a completely different business – the wine business. He was a fantastic kind...
(All Rights Reserved)