Starting small: How start-ups can overcome barriers to entering the pharma market
Steve Saviuk offers some guidance on sustaining pharma start-ups (1,125 words, 5.5 minutes)
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The two biggest challenges for small life sciences start-ups are locating funding sources and finding new talent, says Steve Saviuk, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Valeo Pharma of Kirkland, Que. In a recent NPC Podcast episode, Saviuk discussed ways homegrown companies can overcome these issues.
Valeo Pharma is a Canadian pharmaceutical company focused on prescription products in respiratory medicine, oncology, and neurology.
Building relationships with government agencies is crucial to accessing capital, Staviuk said.
“One of our large stakeholders is Investissement Québec, which is [an agency of] the Quebec government. They’ve been very supportive of us,” said Saviuk. Investissement Québec is a government-owned corporation that invests in Québec-based companies.
“One thing that all pharma companies want is quicker access to reimbursement [of costs] on a provincial level,” said Saviuk.
He said government agencies are more willing to invest in innovative products that benefit the country. Valeo’s capital costs were reimbursed by Investissement less than one year after Redesca, an enoxaparin biosimilar, was approved by Health Canada. Redesca, manufactured by Valeo, is a low molecular weight heparin that treats and prevents blood clots. “When you have strong products that can save money for the government, you will have good relations and access to more capital,” said Saviuk.
In addition to capital access, it is often problematic to find experienced senior talent to take on executive roles. Saviuk said start-ups must differentiate themselves to prosper in a competitive market.
“[Valeo is located] in Montreal, one of the major centres in Canada for the pharma industry. Still, getting people to [join] a start-up company is a challenge.”
“We have products that we approach in the way big pharma would. Maybe not with quite all the resources, but still in a very professional way. That says we have staying power so that when [senior talent] come to us, they can build a career with us.”
Saviuk attributes Valeo’s ability to attract qualified talent to a company culture that is empowering, with the ability for employees to participate in the company. “We have various programs which help our employees share ownership [in the company],” he said.
He added that sharing ownership in a lucrative company can attract experienced people seeking senior positions. “I think these [programs] attract a type of person at a certain point in their career. And that’s who we seek to bring in.”
THIS WEEK 07/26/22
Pfizer announced pneumococcal 20-valent conjugate vaccine (Prevnar 20) is now available in Canada for preventing pneumonia and invasive pneumococcal disease in adults.
Health Canada approved AbbVie’s selective and reversible JAK inhibitor upadacitinib (Rinvoq) for active ankylosing spondylitis in adult patients. Rinvoq can be used as monotherapy or in combination with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Azurity Pharmaceuticals, a private pharmaceutical company based in Massachusetts, announced the U.S. FDA approved zonisamide oral suspension (Zonisade) for Tx of partial seizures in epileptic patients aged 16 years and older.
Karyopharm Therapeutics and the Menarini Group announced the European Commission granted marketing authorization to selinexor (Nexpovio), a first-in-class, oral exportin 1 (XPO1) inhibitor, in combination with once-weekly bortezomib (Velcade) and low-dose dexamethasone. It’s Tx for multiple myeloma in adult patients.
LISTEN NOW
In season seven of the NPC Podcast, Michael Stone, General Manager for Canada of Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, talks about taking on a leadership role during the pandemic, attracting younger, tech-savvy talent and the relevance of an education degree in pharma. Hear him in conversation with podcast hosts Mitch Shannon, Jim Shea and Mark McElwain.
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 represent a cross-section of the qualities that make our business unique and fulfilling. NPC Healthbiz Weekly will acknowledge one past Hall of Fame Honoree each week.
2004 Inductee
Jean-Michel Halfon
Tel Aviv, Israel
Editor’s note: Jean-Michel is an Advisory Board Member at the Center for Emerging Markets and a Member of the Board of Directors at Teva Pharmaceuticals.
What’s it like at the helm of the Canadian operations of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical company? Jean-Michel Halfon won’t tell you in 25 words or less, but he could write a book about the challenges of today’s CEO. “Change” is the most distinguishing factor in today’s healthcare environment, and managing change has been a fascinating aspect of his career, says Halfon, who learned to adapt early in his first job in sales with Pfizer France in 1977. Then a recent graduate with a degree in industrial and systems engineering and an MBA, Halfon admits the transition to sales and marketing wasn’t easy, but “it was a unique and fantastic science of people management” and a necessary springboard to his rise in the ranks at Pfizer. Despite a brief stint as Director of Marketing for Merck in the late ’80s, Halfon returned to Pfizer, where he went on to direct the Pfizer France pharmaceutical business as Pharmaceutical Division Manager and as development team leader for eight years at Pfizer Europe headquarters in Brussels. He then moved on to Pfizer World Headquarters in New York to head a product global development team, followed by his current position as president and CEO of the Canadian operation, a position he’s held since 1999.
Looking back at his 27-year career, Halfon notes that the role of the CEO has evolved dramatically. Whereas five or 10 years ago a CEO would have to coordinate the marketing and sales process, “today I really don’t spend more than 10 to 20 per cent of my time doing that. My role now is to try and work with the other players of the healthcare system to find new solutions, new ways of doing things, and to propose reforms.” At the same time, the responsibility is his to ensure performance, but the environment nevertheless influences this performance. “I work first for my company and also for the environment where I work.”
A large chunk of that “environmental” work is spent on the boards of numerous industry and community organizations including the Canadian Genetics Diseases Network, The Biotechnology Research Institute (National Research Council, Montreal), and the Montreal Neurological Institute. He is also this year’s chair of Canada’s Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D) which has a new “innovative agenda” to foster conditions for research, information, and investment growth in Canada. That doesn’t leave much time for a weekly game of tennis or weight training exercises, two of Halon’s favourite ways to unwind. But he is undaunted by the demands on his time, much of it spent on issues related to the shifting healthcare landscape. “Change is sometimes difficult, and we are all reticent to change. But there are a lot of pleasures in change and, when we see change as a pleasure, then life is different.”
NEXT WEEK
In the 08/02 edition of the NPC Healthbiz Weekly, Michael Stone, General Manager for Canada of Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, talks about taking on a leadership role during the pandemic, attracting younger, tech-savvy talent and the relevance of an education degree in pharma. 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.
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