Redefining value in a post-Covid world
Kevin Leshuk wants Pharma to trade in "selling" and embrace "value" (360 words, 2 min)
As the Covid situation drives Pharma companies to explore new ways of conducting business, this is an ideal time to reframe the industry from one of sales to an industry of providing value, said Kevin Leshuk, president & CEO of Forus Therapeutics.
Leshuk (photo below) spoke at the 15th Annual National Pharmaceutical Congress about the constraints of selling and new considerations in a post-Covid world.
Leshuk explained that his company, Forus Therapeutics, is a new Canadian-based specialty Pharma company. “Forus has not yet had to address the challenges of working actively in the market with existing products, as we are launching both the company and a new therapeutic,” he said. “Our foray into the Covid world is coming at the tail end, and my first thought is on that word ‘selling’.”
“If our industry continues to think of itself as selling, we are going to continue to miss the mark,” said Leshuk.
“We have to move away from ‘selling’ to ‘value’, and re-establish the value proposition. Value means different things to different people, and revenue is still a significant piece of what we do, but my operating framework is to focus on those actions that bring the most value.”
Leshuk noted that new ways of conducting business are being explored now, without flying across the country, without sitting in meetings that are of limited value, without investing non-value time that is not going to advance a stakeholder’s interests.
“And [at Forus] we are really focusing on increasing the value for our customers.”
“The Pharma industry likes to talk about bringing value, but I’m not sure we ask the questions,” added Leshuk.
“I’m not sure we listen with understanding as the backdrop. When we listen to understand, we need to internalize it and have conversations that will challenge the old paradigms, to give ourselves the opportunity to innovate and adapt.”
There is an outstanding need to listen to customers and develop means to provide value in ways that are different yet compliant, Leshuk said in summary.
“Or perhaps we need to challenge that compliance convention. In the new Covid reality, this may be an opportunity to redefine what things look like. I’m looking forward to the conversation.”
SAVE THE DATE
The 2022 NPC Winter Webinar is fast approaching! This year’s Winter Webinar is dedicated to a celebration of the career of Ronnie Miller, long-time NPC mainstay and a champion of the Life Sciences in Canada. Join us in congratulating Ronnie on his retirement, and mark your calendar for Wednesday, February 9th at 10:45am.
THIS WEEK 01/11/22
Searchlight Pharma Inc., a Montréal-based specialty healthcare company focused on women's health, urogynecology, and urology, announced that it has completed the acquisition of ERFA Canada 2012 Inc. (ERFA). Combining Searchlight and ERFA will result in a platform with critical mass across products, business operations and infrastructure. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Bausch Health Companies Inc. CEO Joseph Papa said that Bausch Health spinoffs will be ready in the next 30 days. Papa told Bloomberg that there are plans to split the company into three separate businesses. The first will be Solta Medical, which will be established as an independent medical aesthetics business via an initial public offering on New York’s NASDAQ exchange.
Endo International announced that one of its operating companies, Par Pharmaceutical, Inc., has launched the first generic version of Merz's CUVPOSA (glycopyrrolate) oral solution in the U.S., following final approval from the U.S. FDA. CUVPOSA is a prescription medication that helps reduce chronic severe drooling in children with neurologic conditions that cause excessive drooling.
GSK announced that it has signed an agreement with the Government of Canada to supply 20,000 injectable doses of sotrovimab. Sotrovimab is a Covid-19 monoclonal antibody therapy developed by GSK and Vir Biotechnology. This follows the announcement made by GSK on Oct. 4, 2021, regarding an initial purchase agreement with Canada for 10,000 doses of sotrovimab.
LISTEN NOW
The first episode of Season Five of the NPC Podcast explored the rolling out of the Covid-19 vaccines a year later. The Co-Chair of Canada’s Vaccine Task Force, Mark Lievonen, talks about the vaccine rollout in Canada, the role of booster shots and the federal government’s Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy, with co-hosts Mitch Shannon, Jim Shea and Mark McElwain, in the first 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.
2014 Inductee
Dr. Roger McIntyre
Toronto, Ont.
Editor’s Note: Roger has been Chief Executive Officer at Braxia Scientific Corp. since May 2021 and is a Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at the University of Toronto.
Foreseeing dynamic scientific developments in neuroscience, the significance of the high impact of psychiatric illnesses, and a personal need for constant stimulation are what led Roger S. McIntyre, MD, FRCPC, a professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at the University of Toronto, to pursue a career in psychiatry.
“This was really, as they say, a no-brainer,” said Dr. McIntyre. “This was an organic fit—I do not think I selected it, I think it selected me.”
Dr. McIntyre completed his medical degree at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He received his psychiatry residency training and Fellowship in Psychiatric Pharmacology at the University of Toronto. The first patient he was assigned to during medical school as a trainee had bipolar disorder (BD). He found the complexities of the disorder fascinating, complexities that he came to understand as fairly typical of BD.
“For me, it was an extraordinary intellectual and professional curiosity to me . . . That was the gateway . . . into the area of mood disorders and for the past two decades I have been dedicated to identifying causes and cures of mood disorders,” he says. “It started with BD and that just naturally led to its companion—major depressive disorder.”
Dr. McIntyre is extensively involved in research, which primarily aims to characterize the association between mood disorders, notably cognitive function and medical comorbidity. Thomson Reuters added him to their 2014 “Highly Cited Researchers” list, considering him one of the most influential scientific minds. He further immerses himself in the medical community through his role as Head of the Mood Disorders Psychopharmacology Unit at the University Health Network in Toronto and by presenting at numerous local and international conferences.
Dr. McIntyre is driven to be so engaged in his profession by his “own sensational thirst and want for knowledge.” He says knowledge is important to generate, share, and exchange through publications and meetings. His inspiration also comes from what he believes is his responsibility and duty to his patients, he says.
“I think as a psychiatrist and as someone who has been given a tremendous privilege to do what I do, ultimately I have an obligation, and the obligation I have to the community, that has given me so much privilege, is to do whatever I can and campaign and advocate on behalf of these people who have these illnesses,” says Dr. McIntyre.
“I do not think it is a secret that people with mental illness do not have a surplus of advocacy. I do not see myself as the person who is going to fix all that, but I do think it is my personal and professional responsibility to be an advocate.”
NEXT WEEK
In the 01/18 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.