Reflections and hopes for the Pharma industry
In time for the lunar New Year, Pamela Fralick examines Pharma's progress and the work still to be done (350 words, 2 min)
Pamela Fralick, president of Innovative Medicines Canada, would like to see a Pharma industry where “we have measurably advanced our reputation of integrity and value, are respected as a partner, and valued for our contributions to society.”
At the virtual 15th National Pharma Congress, Fralick (photo below) provided some reflections and hopes for the coming year.
First and foremost, the pharmaceutical industry needs to address the time involved with the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) submissions, and secondly, it needs to build on collaborations made during the pandemic to find a better way forward with the PMPRB, Fralick said.
Fralick’s third reflection is regarding the Pan Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance and their progress so far. Fourth is creating more medications for rare diseases and fifth is antimicrobial resistance, an ongoing threat. Sixth is developing a life sciences strategy.
Going forward, Fralick said her hopes are that Pharma will have a strong and reliable scanning process, that we will be adept and increasingly accurate in identifying broader environmental issues that will affect our industry, and that we will have effective relationships and partnerships with federal and provincial governments.
In addition, Fralick said she hopes Pharma will have better government dialogues so there will not be a need to decipher competing government policy objectives.
She reflected on the need for an “improved and streamlined market access process for all Pharma products, and especially for medications for rare diseases and antimicrobial resistance.” Fralick also said there is a need for an end-to-end life sciences system, where Pharma will not have to advocate for a strategy.
Fralick added, “we need to define a role for ourselves where we are an active partner in supporting the growth of resilient health systems. It’s within our grasp but we have not fully identified how we are going to do it.”
And finally, Fralick reflected on the importance of data and talent in the Pharma industry.
“These are the major issues for the next few years,” Fralick said. “They’re on our doorstep now and I believe we will achieve greater successes over the next two years.”
SAVE THE DATE – RONNIE MILLER DAY
The 2022 NPC Winter Webinar is fast approaching! This year’s Winter Webinar is dedicated to a celebration of the career of Roche Canada’s Ronnie Miller, a 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 10:45 am.
Want to share your best wishes for Ronnie? Leave a note on the Kudoboard.
THIS WEEK 02/01/22
Sun Pharma announced the launch of CEQUA, a new treatment for patients diagnosed with dry eye disease. CEQUA (cyclosporine ophthalmic 0.09% solution), a calcineurin inhibitor immunomodulator, is the first dry eye treatment in Canada that is delivered with nano micellar technology. This technology enhances the bioavailability and physicochemical stability of cyclosporine to improve ocular tissue penetration.
MaRS Discovery District in Toronto is launching a new private-sector venture fund, which will be financed by the Ontario Municipal Employees' Retirement System (OMERS) and some of the entrepreneurs funded by MaRS. The new independent venture fund, called Graphite IAF IV, will be launched with a $25 million investment from OMERS. An equal amount will come from profits generated by the 14-year-old MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund managed by MaRS, the Ontario government startup-support body.
Pfizer announced that the European Commission (EC) granted marketing authorization for Lorviqua (lorlatinib) as monotherapy for the treatment of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in adult patients previously not treated with an ALK inhibitor.
Eli Lilly's announced that lebrikizumab, an IL-13 inhibitor, showed significant itch relief and improved disease severity when combined with topical corticosteroids in patients with atopic dermatitis in a third Phase 3 study.
LISTEN NOW
Cathy Harley, CEO of Nurses Specialized in Wound, Ostomy and Continence Canada (NSWOCC), talks about social determinants of health, diversity in healthcare, and patient and public education.
She joins our co-hosts Mitch Shannon, Jim Shea and Mark McElwain, in the fourth 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
Ronnie Miller
Roche Canada
Mississauga, Ont.
Editor’s Note: Ronnie is retiring this year. Come celebrate his career with us at 10:45 AM on Feb 9, 2022, at the "2022 NPC Winter Webinar: Celebrating the Career of Ronnie Miller". Register here.
A rare mix of wit, charm, and global business acumen (not to mention an impressive golf game), has established Ronnie Miller as one of the key players in this country’s pharmaceutical sector. Yet Miller hasn’t forgotten the importance of fairness and respect when dealing with people, embracing his father’s wisdom, to “treat everyone else the way you’d like to be treated.” But being raised in Scotland may also have something to do with it: “You put your head above the parapet [and] you get shot,” jokes the President and CEO of Roche Canada.
Little wonder that the affable Scot has garnered a loyal following over his 28-year pharma career, which began in 1979 when he was a sales rep at Bayer (UK). From that position came a series of career-enhancing moves—Regional Sales Manager, Product Manager, National Sales Manager—at a time when the industry was “vastly different”. Says Miller, “There were probably twice as many companies as there are now, and doctors were easier to see. If you worked hard you could make seven or eight calls to GPs in a single morning.” Moreover, “we sold four products at any one time to the doctor—that would be considered a luxury these days.”
In 1988, Miller was hired as National Sales Manager for Roche Products Ltd. in the UK, thereafter taking a series of globe-trotting assignments: International Sales Manager for Neupogen at Roche’s head office in Switzerland, Marketing Director and Deputy Divisional Director of the Pharmaceutical Division in Japan, and back to head office to lead the Global Task Force for Xenical before landing full circle in the UK as Divisional Director of pharmaceuticals.
By April 2000, Ronnie Miller was at the helm of Roche’s Canadian operation, where his personable leadership style would be immediately felt. Indeed, one of his proudest achievements over the last seven years has been seeing Roche Canada named as one of the 50 Best Employers in Canada by Report on Business magazine for the past four years. Becoming the number one hospital company to bring innovative drugs like Herceptin and Avastin to an increasingly conservative market was also a defining moment. “If you’d asked people about Roche 20 years ago, they would have known us as the Valium company and then you’d get into Hollywood movies and Valley of the Dolls. These days we truly are a leader in oncology.”
Moving forward, Miller sees the need for health systems to understand the value of diagnostics early in the patient care continuum. “I think that helps position Roche in its vision of delivering tailored medicines so that we’ve got a test and a drug that will follow through from the test and treat the patient so that ultimately we’ll get into more segmentation of patients…where we know with a high degree of accuracy if the drug will work or not. I think that’s becoming clearer in the research that Roche is doing and how the company is structuring its research to try and find those opportunities.”
In terms of general industry issues, Miller is frank about challenges involved as incoming chairman of Rx&D. “One of the things I’d like to try and do is bring some focus and clarity to what the association can bring, try to leave our competitiveness at the door, and work together to overcome some of the obstacles that I think the Canadian environment lays down.
Access to medicines these days is a huge issue. We’ve done our best at shoring up what the industry used to be, but I think we need to be more forward-thinking and say, ‘There are major challenges for all companies to get [medicines] listed and reimbursed.’ Canada may be a Western, civilized society but it is lagging behind, not only in approval times but in the reimbursement of some of these new innovative medicines.”
NEXT WEEK
In the 02/08 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.