Innovating communication with stakeholders
David Renwick is bridging the communications gap through patient-centric thinking (350 words, 2 min)
Even when all stakeholders share a goal, limitations in communication between groups can lead to duplication of effort and other inefficiencies. David Renwick, Vice-President and General Manager of Emergent Biosolutions, believes that Pharma businesses can improve patient outcomes by using innovative communication strategies.
“Innovation can come from very different places,” Renwick (photo below) said during the 15th Annual Pharmaceutical Congress. “It arises from addressing the complexity of our situation and market and empowering a team and their efforts.”
Renwick’s company, Emergent Biosolutions, produces the Narcan naloxone nasal spray, which can reverse the effects of opioid overdose. Renwick explained how this product places Emergent in a unique market with complex communication needs.
“We found in our research that many stakeholders, while acting in the best interest of the cause, were not communicating with each other,” Renwick explained. “This led to duplication of efforts and many inefficiencies to deliver life-saving naloxone.”
“We realized if we were to have a meaningful impact on the market, we needed to bring all these stakeholders—pharmacy, mental health, social workers, addiction treatment, public health, harm reduction agencies, governments, advocates—together,” Renwick said.
He described how Emergent assembled a focused team to facilitate communication between stakeholders, responsible for finding opportunities to bring interested parties together, understanding their needs and how best to fulfill them. “I think that’s pretty innovative,” he said.
To date, this team has succeeded in developing outreach into several naloxone-ready communities, distributing Narcan as widely as possible, he said.
Additionally, “through the Youth Haven drop-in centre, a backpack program was developed to put at-risk youth in touch with Narcan nasal spray. This was supported, distributed, and administered by the [Ontario Provincial Police].”
“These initiatives and others will impact getting Narcan to the end user,” added Renwick.
The key takeaway, Renwick said, is that as part of patient-centred thinking, Pharma businesses should identify factors affecting patients’ ability to access the company’s products or services.
“Learn and act quickly, be flexible, and give teams an environment where they can succeed.”
THIS WEEK 03/01/22
AstraZeneca Canada announced that the company has signed an agreement with the Government of Canada to supply 100,000 doses of Evusheld (tixagevimab co-packaged with cilgavimab), its long-acting antibody (LAAB) combination for Covid-19 in patient populations who require additional protection. The doses will be delivered in 2022 after Evusheld receives regulatory approval from Health Canada.
Galderma and Taro Pharmaceutical announced they have signed an agreement for Taro to acquire Alchemee, formerly The Proactiv Company (TPC). The agreement includes Alchemee’s business and assets around the world, including the Proactiv brand of acne therapy.
AbbVie announced that Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Manitoba now provide reimbursement for VENCLEXTA (venetoclax) in combination with obinutuzumab for the treatment of adult patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The combination treatment is also listed on the Drug Benefit List in the Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) Program and has been on Québec's Listes des médicaments—Etablissements since November, 2021.
Valeo Pharma announced that its two sthma therapies, Enerzair Breezehaler and Atectura Breezhaler, have been accepted for reimbursement by the Ontario Drug Benefit program, the Manitoba Pharmacare Program, the New Brunswick Drug plan, and the NIHB and VAC federal programs.
LISTEN NOW
Pat Forsythe, General Manager of Eisai Inc., talks about virtual work practices, the importance of real world evidence, and learning from differing workplace cultures in pharma.
He joins our co-hosts Mitch Shannon, Jim Shea and Mark McElwain, in the eighth episode of our sixth season.
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 stand for a representative cross-section of the qualities that make our business unique and fulfilling. Each week, NPC Healthbiz Weekly will acknowledge one past Hall of Fame Honouree.
2007 Inductee
Cheryl Cann
Toronto
Editor’s Note: Cheryl is currently an Executive Director of Customer Marketing at Boehringer Ingelheim.
“When I went to business school, one of my professors told me the way to be successful in business is to surround yourself with successful people,” says Cheryl Cann. That advice has served her well in the 16 years she’s spent building a reputation as an accomplished marketer in the Canadian pharmaceutical industry.
Yet corporate life wasn’t always on the mind of the Group Product Manager for Boehringer Ingelheim, who graduated with a degree in kinesiology, and once considered becoming a phys-ed teacher. But a university co-op placement as a cardiology technologist provided her with “a foot in the door” to the healthcare field and some valuable insight into life as a pharma rep. “I would observe the reps coming through the hospital on a daily basis, and hear what the physicians had to say about them, both good and bad,” laughs Cann, who sought the advice of several staff cardiologists before applying for a position at Bayer Healthcare (then Miles Laboratories).
Promptly hired as a sales representative, she was entrusted with five products over the years in a GP sales territory worth $3 million and a $1.5 million hospital territory. Studying for her MBA at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto in the evenings, and making the Dean’s honour list to boot, Cann would also earn the Vice President’s Award for sales excellence in 1991 and 1994. She was subsequently offered a series of market manager positions, including Trasylol, followed by Baycol 0. 2 mg, 0.3 mg, the launch of Baycol 0.4 mg, and the anti-hypertensive drug Adalat XL.
Adalat came with its own set of challenges, however, after media reports attempted to link calcium channel blockers to several deaths, says Cann. But the XL INSIGHT trial, large mortality and morbidity trial that demonstrated the safety and efficacy of the drug turned the brand around. The trial was “a very good learning experience,” and helped re-establish Adalat XL as a $100 million brand. “One of the reasons that Adalat XL did so well is that we wanted an aggressive launch campaign for the trial. I treated the launch of the trial like the launch of a drug.”
Her defining moment, however, was a move to Boehringer Ingelheim where, as a senior product manager, rheumatology she would help launch Mobicox, a COX-II selective. The Mobicox experience is one of the highlights of her career. “We had such a short lifecycle and we needed to make the most of this product from a business point of view. I think we rose to meet the challenge.”
Rising through the ranks to District Sales Manager and finally, Group Product Manager, Cann admits ‘I love marketing and I love the culture of Boehringer,” one of the few pharma companies in the world that is still family-owned. “It’s such a team effort here, everybody either wins or loses together.”
True to the company culture, and with her professor’s sage advice still ringing in her ears, Cann has learned what it takes to be a leader. Taking the time to explain even the minutest details to a representative or a new product manager pays off in the long run, she says. “If they understand all the intricacies around something that seems simple, like creating a detail aid, they understand the business better, and will hopefully be a better rep, or marketer.” She adds, “It’s your responsibility, not just to hire good people, but to mentor the people you’re with so they can be the best they can be.”
NEXT WEEK
In the 03/08 edition of the NPC Healthbiz Weekly, more from the powerhouse panels of the 15th Annual National Pharmaceutical Congress. It’s easy to get your no-charge subscription and have the issue sent to your phone or inbox each Tuesday at 6:00 a.m. sharp.
Stay safe, stay sure, and stay on your game. We’ll see you again next week.