Pharma reps and the new virtual landscape
Lisa Mullett of Sunovion discusses the Covid-19 evolution of interactions
NPC Healthbiz Weekly is presented to you in cooperation with Peak Pharma Solutions
In March when offices were initially closing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Lisa Mullett believed she was only shutting down for two weeks.
Seven months later, Mullett, the General Manager of Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Canada, says her business has completely changed, as a result of the coronavirus. Sunovion specializes in medicines for respiratory diseases and central nervous system disorders.
“I think every aspect of our businesses changed [from] how we relate with each other, [to] how we work with each other,” said Mullett (photo below) on a recent episode of the “NPC Podcast,” a program for Pharma executives hosted by Peter Brenders, the CEO of the New Brunswick Health Research Foundation. (Listen to the episode here.)
“From an office-based environment with our global colleagues, [to] removing the need for travel [and] face-to-face interactions as a day-to-day way to do business,” Mullett continued. “And moving things to a virtual reality has just been something we have had to evolve with.”
Mullett, who joined Sunovion in 2008 as its director of hospital products, said the evolution that has taken place during the coronavirus has been a learning journey - one that she feels is not going to stop.
With the evolution has come less in-person interactions both among colleagues and with customers and doctors.
Mullett notes that prior to March, the amount of engagement Sunovion did with customers, using virtual platforms was “minimal at best”. Since then she said her teams have progressed to using platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, WebEx, and others to engage with customers and doctors.
One of the challenges with less in-person interactions is the ability to maintain personal connections and relationships through the pandemic. According to Mullett, the key to maintaining connections and relationships is listening.
“If we have existing relationships where there's been a value gained between the two parties, it's easier to maintain that relationship as long as we're not [trampling] on their time, and we continue to provide value,” she said.
“We have just really had to maintain relationships by leveraging the platforms, but being respectful of the needs that they have, and not being intrusive, but being value-added. And so, I think that's really how we're maintaining it is adding the value.”
After initially thinking she would have to close the office for just two weeks in March, Mullett now says she has no real concrete plan on when things may return to some semblance of a pre-coronavirus normal.
“I think our plan is that there is no plan,” Mullett said. “We have to find a way that's going to work for the customer, and for our representatives, and for our business and just be flexible.”
The takeaway: With the Pharma industry continuing to evolve and find new strategies for engagement, Mullett pointed out the Miro technology which allows for virtual whiteboarding as one piece of technology she has discovered during the pandemic that has been helpful.
While there are plenty of digital engagement tools available, Mullett contends it is important to continue to evolve your skill set.
“Make it more interactive,” she said. “[Don’t] expect you're going to hold an hour of people's attention in a learning program. Find ways to really meet and customize it to how that person or that group of people want to be engaged.”
Further reading: The folks at Accenture have a detailed article on the changing landscape of customer engagement during Covid-19. Story here.
YOUR HEALTHBIZ WEEK 10/27/20
Researchers at the University of North Carolina have discovered a genetic variant that can be used to predict if patients will develop hypertension from the widely used cancer drug Avastin (bevacizumab). VEGF inhibitors such as Avastin have been key to cancer treatments. Since the treatment targets blood vessel growth and regulation, the most common and severe side effects are usually cardiovascular-related. Currently, there is no way to predict who is likely to experience these adverse events, which can develop quickly and often require stopping or modifying treatment.
Roche Canada announced a major job investment in Ontario’s life sciences industry. The investment will bring as many as 500 specialized, full-time positions to the province. The $500 million investment over five years will establish Roche’s Global Pharma Technical (PT) Operations site at its Canadian pharmaceutical headquarters in Mississauga, Ont.
Shaun Thaxter, the former chief executive officer of U.K.-based Indivior Plc, was sentenced in federal court to serve four months after pleading guilty to one misdemeanor count of sharing false information about the addictive properties of Suboxone Film, an opioid-based product. Thaxter’s sentencing marks the second time the U.S. Department of Justice has sent the CEO of an opioid maker to prison. In June, Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor was sentenced to more than five years in a U.S. federal prison for the role his company played in the opioid epidemic.
Bayer’s Phase III study of the investigational drug finerenone demonstrated significantly reduced renal and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes. Finerenone is a potential first-in-class investigational, non-steroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (MRA) that works on the pathway of MR overactivation, a key contributor to disease progression in patients with chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes.
14th ANNUAL NATIONAL PHARMA CONGRESS UPDATE
CONTINUING TOMORROW (10/28/20): Chronicle Companies is honoured to host the 14th Annual National Pharmaceutical Congress, a virtual series of weekly webinars. As Canada's largest stage for leaders in the pharmaceutical industry, the Congress presents industry reflections, ideas, and innovations. The Congress has been attended by more than 200 delegates every year and is an opportunity to learn and reflect with the industry's most prominent thought leaders and visionaries. Organized in cooperation with Pangaea Consultants. (Hot tip: NPC Healthbiz Weekly readers get an additional 20% discount on registration fees by using the code NPC20. (Bursaries may be available for students, retirees and transitioning executives. Contact us for details.)
The scheduled agenda:
Wednesday 10/28 11:00 am to 1:00 pm EST
Session 1: Future External Deployments, Structures and Skill Sets
Sponsored by Shoppers Drug Mart Specialty RxSession 2: Patient-centricity: What Does It Mean in Action?
Sponsored by McKesson Canada
Wednesday 11/04 11:00 am to 1:00 pm EST
Session 1: How Do We Launch Products Post Covid-19
Sponsored by Bayshore HealthcareSession 2: Inclusion and Diversity in a Virtual and Real-Life World
Sponsored by Ashfield Healthcare Canada
This scheduled speakers
Pamela Fralick, Innovative Medicines Canada
Andrew Casey, BIOTECanada
Jason Field, Life Sciences Ontario
Ronnie Miller, Hoffmann-La Roche
Brian Bloom, Bloom Burton
Pat Forsythe, Eisai
Danielle Portnik, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals
Marissa Poole, Sanofi Genzyme
Eileen McMahon, Torys
Paul Petrelli, Jazz Pharmaceuticals
Jim Hall, Covis Pharma
Carol Stiff, Santen Pharmaceuticals
Zal Press, CADTH
Brian Canestraro, Intercept Pharmaceuticals
Sylvie Pilon, Emergent Biosolutions
Peter Brenders, Kontollo Health
David Renwick, Emergent Biosolutions
Arima Ventin, Allergan
Ross Glover, Taiho Pharma
others to be announced; see updated list at pharmacongress.info
Profits from the 2020 National Pharmaceutical Congress support Sandi’s Fund for Camp Liberté. More than $50,000 has been raised for Canadian health charities through the National Pharmaceutical Congress.
Watch a “greatest hits” encore presentation from a past NPC event
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. They stand for, in the view of the selection committee, 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
Joan Chypyha
Cipher Pharmaceuticals
Mississauga, Ont.
Editor’s note: Joan is currently the President at Alto Pharmaceuticals.
Joan Chypyha says the pharmaceutical industry has been a great place to work for more than 25 years, because the industry offers diversity and is constantly changing. “I still learn something new almost every day,” she said. “The industry has had its ups and downs over the years, but if you are entrepreneurial and have no problem adapting then this is a great place to be. The regulations change, the way to sell is changing, and we always have to find another way to make things happen, and that is what keeps me here.”
Chypyha graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Science in biology and a Master of Business Administration from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont. Her love of science led her to a sales position at Syntex (now Hoffmann-La Roche) in 1988. She worked there in various sales, marketing, business development, and senior management roles for 15 years.
In 2004, Chypyha joined Barrier Therapeutics as General Manager of the dermatology start-up, which was acquired by Stiefel in 2008. She then went on to found her own company, Alto Pharmaceuticals, which focused on dermatology, women’s health, and eldercare. In 2013, she joined Cipher Pharmaceuticals as the Vice-President of Marketing and Sales. This past June she was promoted to her current role with the company.
“I am committed to the vision of [Cipher] and to reaching our goals, one of the most important being to always remain customer-centric because that is what is good for the business in the long run,” she said. “The customer can be defined in the purest sense as the physician and/or the patients, as we are ultimately here to improve their quality of life by improving their health outcomes. This does not always come in the form of a blockbuster product, but in solid products that are effective and fill an unmet need, be it as simple as an innovative dosage format, or a brand new chemical entity.”
Chypyha said she was drawn to dermatology because of the entrepreneurial nature of dermatologists and because of their ability to help patients “be comfortable and confident in ‘their own skins.’”
“From a business/company standpoint, [dermatology] is a great therapeutic area to focus on, as there are so many different avenues you can follow, be it prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, natural health products, medical devices, [or] esthetics,” she said. “You name it, you can do it in dermatology and that keeps [work] very interesting and, with a little imagination and determination can create a whole host of opportunities.”
Chypyha is currently the president of the Canadian Dermatology Industry Association (CDIA) and is also a past member of Toronto Biotech Initiative and served on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Healthcare Licensing Association.
NEXT WEEK
The 11/3 edition of NPC Healthbiz Weekly will feature Zal Press of the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) on the impact Covid-19 has had on patient-focused charities. Subscribe and have the issue sent to your phone or inbox each Tuesday at 6:00 am sharp.
Stay safe and stay on your game. We’ll see you again next Tuesday.