Adapting to a pandemic-driven industry transformation
Michael Stone reflects on how the Covid-19 pandemic has reshaped the pharma industry. (1,090 words, 5.5 minutes)
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The Covid-19 pandemic brought numerous challenges for the life sciences industry, including maintaining effective industry-wide communication and attracting talent in an increasingly competitive labour market. During a recent episode of the NPC Podcast, Michael Stone, General Manager of Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals Canada, discussed how his company has adjusted to these challenges.
Mallinckrodt is a spec pharm operation, focused on autoimmune conditions and rare diseases.
Stone said the Covid-19 pandemic stimulated more productive patient-physician communication through digital interaction: “I think virtual interactions are here to stay. One, because the companies have been forced to get better [at digital communication]. Secondly, I think healthcare professionals have embraced [virtual interactions].” Stone explained that many healthcare providers discovered how effective virtual communication could be during the pandemic. Interactions that used to take time to schedule could now be done more quickly through digital tools.
Stone said the pandemic has made attracting new talent to the industry more challenging. He noted how Mallinckrodt overcame this obstacle by increasing virtual interactivity and maintaining an extensive network of industry contacts. His well-established network has been invaluable recently during active recruitment. Around 75 per cent of the company’s current employees have been hired in the last 18 months, according to Stone.
“I've been busy networking and recruiting [new talent]. And I will say that the one thing that this process has reinforced, in my mind, is the power of the network.”
Working in the industry for the last 26 years helped him make connections with many people in pharma. Building an industry network allowed him to locate potential new talent quickly and create a job profile for them at Mallinckrodt.
“I think the pandemic put a finer point on it. Having to do [the hiring process] online made hiring more efficient too. You can screen a lot more candidates quickly online, and it's not that big of an investment of time,” he said.
THIS WEEK 08/02/22
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The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto has received the first Canadian federal (CIHR) grant to study psilocybin for its effect on treatment-resistant depression. Researchers will specifically study whether experiencing psilocybin's psychedelic effects is necessary for it to have antidepressant effects.
The U.S. FDA has accepted Biogen Inc.’s New Drug Application for tofersen, an investigational drug for superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
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CANADIAN HEALTHCARE MARKETING HALL OF FAME
The Canadian Healthcare Marketing Hall of Fame awards were established in 2002 to honour healthcare marketers who have contributed to our vocation and inspire others.
More than 100 honourees have been selected during the past 18 years. In the selection committee’s view, they represent a cross-section of the qualities that make our business unique and fulfilling. NPC Healthbiz Weekly will acknowledge one past Hall of Fame Honoree each week.
2004 Inductee
Robert Lavoie
Montreal
Editor’s note: Bob died in 2017. His son Michel Lavoie is now President at Dermtek Pharm, and his daughter Marie-Claude Lavoie is Vice President.
Robert Lavoie remembers the day he was bitten by the pharma bug. As a young advertising rep for Thomson newspapers, Lavoie lamented the fact he could only afford retread tires for his MGB sports car. But an encounter at an auto shop with
“a fellow with the latest car, a suit, and great tires on his car,” would change all that. “He instructed the attendant to change his tires, and when they asked him what he wanted to do with the old ones, he said, ‘throw them out.’ So, I asked him what he did, and he said ‘I’m a pharmaceutical salesperson.’ I said, “Terrific, that’s what I want to do.”
Lavoie applied for and landed his first job, as a dermatology sales rep at Westwood Pharmaceuticals, a division of Bristol-Myers Squibb. The job lasted nine years when anxious to explore other avenues, he left for a company that distributed products for an American firm. “I always thought there was a place for Canadian products,” says Lavoie, recalling a not-so-positive reaction from his employer. “Their philosophy was, we don't get involved with formulations.”
In 1986, after 18 years in the industry, and with four products in tow including Soluver, an innovative wart-removal product, and three other products for seborrhea and psoriasis, Lavoie decided to strike out on his own and formed Dermtek, making the rounds of dermatology offices in Canada from Cornerbrook. Nfld. to Nanaimo, BC. But the early days were fraught with uncertainty, he says, remembering the drive from Quebec to Toronto to detail dermatologists. “I had quit my high salary job and [gave up] my large company car, and I bought a Volkswagen Jetta. I was trying to convince these derms that our products were the best, so they would have to tell patients to ask their pharmacist to order them, and for a brief second I thought, ‘what have I done?’?”
Lavoie recalls that the big challenge in starting Dermtek was that “people in the industry never thought it would fly. Even some dermatologists said ‘you’ll never succeed, you’re up against the big companies.’” But many of his mentors were also dermatologists “and they really steered me,” says Lavoie, who believed in his products: “The products were really superior, they were innovative, and they had an edge.”
In 1990, Lavoie expanded his lineup to include the blockbuster sunscreen product Ombrelle, which was eventually sold to cosmetics giant L’Oreal in 1997, and his “product of fame” Reversa, a glycolic-acid-based product that virtually pioneered the anti-aging movement, sparking a host of similar preparations.
Looking back on his 36 years in the pharma industry, Lavoie believes that the measure of success is being able to solve problems. “You have to become good at it and when you have a small company, you have to solve them yourself.” He cites a quote from a friend and well-known dermatologist who told one Toronto newspaper: “A few good ideas and a lot of hard work are what made Robert Lavoie a success.”
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