Managing a career in Pharma in the age of Covid-19
Brian Canestraro of Intercept Pharma has those skillsets and behaviours that have helped people thrive during the pandemic
NPC Healthbiz Weekly is presented to you in cooperation with Peak Pharma Solutions
While managing Pharma groups during Covid-19, Brian Canestraro has gotten a better understanding of who will thrive in the new normal by observing his team members.
According to Canestraro, the General Manager of Intercept Pharma Canada, there are three key skill sets and behaviours that his most successful team-memberss have demonstrated during the pandemic, including having a sense of curiosity, the ability to problem-solve and the ability to collaborate.
“We had to pivot in our company to develop remote capabilities quickly,” Canestraro (photo below) said during the 14th National Pharmaceutical Congress. “I think that some of the skillsets and the behaviours that some of the most successful people in my business have demonstrated in that period will add insights on the skillsets and capabilities we will value in whatever the future looks like.”
Canestraro encourages those in Pharma to look at how they can be more curious in their current role. Curiosity helps people keep up to date on what is happening both inside and outside of the Pharma industry, but also how those developments connect within an organization and help how employees can add value to the marketplace.
“There is always a sense of excitement or interest with these types of people to drive toward a state of more continuous improvement and accelerate a path to that ‘future state’,” Canestraro explained. “In many respects, there is also that sense of relief that things are changing because it is a future state that became so clear to people who are extending their wealth of information beyond the industry.”
He believes the future belongs to problem solvers—people who approach challenges with a sense of excitement and as a learning opportunity.
Canestraro added it’s not important to have all the answers, but to have the ability to figure out and assemble answers can be invaluable.
“What I see in these people is the ability to reach out without knowing all the answers,” he said. “These people figure out who to bring together to provide a solution to the problem.”
Canestraro, who has over 20 years of experience in the research-based pharmaceutical industry, has noticed a greater reliance on collaboration during the pandemic since Covid-19 has created changes for everyone in Pharma. He said it is important for those in Pharma to be able to look outside of their own company as much as they look inside to find solutions to problems.
Additionally, it is important to be a good team member when contributions are required as part of a group, he said.
“This dynamic of shared services, more people being involved and the de-centralization of the industry is relying even more on [people with collaboration skills] to be able to successfully navigate both cultural and functional differences as more of our work takes place across teams, across functions and obviously across geographies,” Canestraro said.
The takeaway: Canestraro left attendees of the 14th National Pharmaceutical Congress with a few tips to consider when thinking about their career in Pharma during the pandemic.
He said it can bring value to one’s career to be open-minded, explore content and plug in to forums that expand thinking beyond Pharma. Further, it is important to create new opportunities by taking on new assignments, contributing to new teams, or leading a new project or organizational initiative.
Canestraro stressed the importance of networking and the need to make it a priority. Not only does networking help to support and supplement education, it helps to provide a sounding board with others to bounce ideas off. Networking also builds relationships that can ultimately lead to other opportunities.
Further reading: Despite the constant business uncertainty created by Covid-19, the folks at the business magazine Forbes suggest career management is important both now and for when we emerge from the pandemic. Story here.
YOUR HEALTHBIZ WEEK 01/26/21
The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies unit of Johnson & Johnson announced it has received U.S. FDA has approval of Cabenuva, a combination of Janssen's rilpivirine and ViiV Healthcare's cabotegravir, as the first and only once-monthly, long-acting regimen for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in adults. The regimen was co-developed as part of a collaboration between Janssen and ViiV Healthcare. Cabenuva is indicated as a complete regimen for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults to replace the current antiretroviral regimen in those who are virologically suppressed (HIV-1 RNA less than 50 copies per mL) on a stable antiretroviral regimen, with no history of treatment failure, and with no known or suspected resistance to either cabotegravir or rilpivirine.
Merck’s experimental cancer treatment, bintrafusp alfa, has failed early in its lead trial, according to a Reuters report. Independent supervisors of the late-stage study, which was testing the drug against Keytruda in newly diagnosed cases of a certain type of lung cancer, concluded the drug was unlikely to show the desired effect. The failure also puts a damper on the oncology ambitions of GlaxoSmithKline, which was co-developing the treatment with Merck under a 2019 agreement that could have seen it pay up to US $4.5 billion to the German company.
Eli Lilly has completed its acquisition of Prevail Therapeutics, the company announced. The acquisition establishes a new modality for drug discovery and development at Lilly, extending Lilly's research efforts through the creation of a gene therapy program that will be anchored by Prevail's portfolio of clinical-stage and preclinical neuroscience assets.
Roche’s arthritis drug, tocilizumab, will need larger trials to determine whether the treatment can cut death rates among the sickest Covid-19 patients, Reuters reported. A small study found tocilizumab did not perform better than standard care in severe coronavirus cases. The Brazilian study, which compared tocilizumab plus standard care with standard care alone in people hospitalized with severe or critical Covid-19, found clinical outcomes after 15 days were no better in those who got the therapy. The trial was halted due to safety concerns after preliminary data showed deaths in the tocilizumab group were higher.
NATIONAL PHARMA CONGRESS WINTER WEBINAR
The National Pharmaceutical Congress Winter Webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, February 10, 2021. As a reader of the NPC HealthBiz Weekly you are invited to attend the webinar at no charge. Register now at pharmacongress.info
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 avocation and are an inspiration to 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.
2015 Inductee
Robin Hunter
Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals
Mississauga, Ont.
Editor’s note: Robin Hunter is currently the General Manager and Vice President at Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals.
Adaptability has been a key to success in the pharmaceutical industry for Robin Hunter, who has held many diverse positions at five healthcare companies, positions that exposed him to multiple facets of the pharma business. “Now more than ever, you have to continually reinvent yourself,” says Hunter. “The sales and marketing model in the industry has changed drastically.”
A graduate of the University of Waterloo, Hunter began his career more than two decades ago as a sales representative, first with Servier, and then Parke Davis. Hunter was at Parke Davis when it was involved with Pfizer in the launch of the blockbuster Lipitor.
Drawn to the biotech sector’s spirit of innovation and filled with a desire to contribute to sectors focused on unmet medical needs, Hunter made the move from Parke Davis to Roche, which had just acquired the rights to Genentech’s suite of biologic pharmaceuticals. While at Roche, Hunter had the opportunity to accelerate his expertise, broaden his scope and hone his business acumen through roles that dealt with many aspects of the business. There, he held several positions including Business Unit Director, Pediatrics, Director, Strategic Account Management, Business Unit Director, Virology, and Business Unit Director, Oncology.
“It was exciting that every few years I’d get a tap on the shoulder on a Friday afternoon telling me that I was starting a new job on Monday,” recalls Hunter. “Each new job was more challenging and of more strategic importance to the company.”
Hunter joined LEO Pharma in 2010 as Vice President, Sales & Marketing. Within two years, he reversed a declining market share trend and returned sales growth of strategic products to 25 per cent, as well as leading an organizational change through a 50 per cent growth in personnel, attracting and retaining talent.
In 2013, Hunter was offered the role of General Manager of Ikaria Canada, now Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. “Of all the therapeutic areas I have worked in, none have been as important and rewarding as collaborating with neonatal intensive care units to improve the lives of critically ill newborns.”
In his current role, Hunter is focused on the hospital market, collaborating with healthcare leaders to advance patient safety and provide access to innovations that may help shape future initiatives. “The need for improved medicines for neonates and children is significant, and I look forward to contributing further to this change.”
Hunter credits his professional advancement to having managers and colleagues who were strong leaders and motivating mentors. As he has taken on executive roles, he has prioritized people development and has strived to live up to the standard set by his mentors. He is heavily invested in coaching, viewing it as key to achieving performance goals, and as an underpinning to positive dynamics.
“Leading and developing people is a great source of satisfaction. As I reflect on the influence my managers and mentors had on my career, it is rewarding and a privilege to be able to share my learning, and see young people grow and advance their own careers,” says Hunter.
NEXT WEEK
The 02/02 edition of NPC Healthbiz Weekly will feature Arima Ventin, Executive Director, Market Access, Pricing and Government Relations at Allergan on leadership in the Covid-19 environment. 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 Tuesday.