Pf Magazine June 2017

Top 5 R&D hubs in the UK

June 2017 PHARMAFI E LD.CO.U K

2017 Perception, Motivation and Satisfaction Survey Have you ever stopped for a moment to consider what it is that really motivates you?

Perhaps you’re striving to build a successful long-term career, or to ensure you and your family are secure?

Or are you simply motivated by the prospect of an increased salary, a better car, or your next promotion?

Or is it – as I suspect – a far more subtle and eclectic mix – one that includes a host of different, but important factors that must combine in an optimal way for you to feel really valued and full of purpose?

If you ever find yourself asking any of the above and wanting greater insight on you, your company, or your peers, now is the time to find out!

Simply take part in the 2017 Perception, Motivation and Satisfaction Survey to get the answers you’re seeking!

Need a company-wide view?

Call George Newall on 0781 000 6472 or Hazel Lodge on 01462 476119 for more details.

And now consider this – does your relationship with your manager and benefits package really stack up? Or is it the cause of some degree of dissatisfaction?

HAVE

YOUR SAY PFPEOPLE .CO.UK

PFPEOPLE .CO.UK

George Newall – Managing Director, Catalyst Project Management Ltd.

WELCOME

EDITOR

John Pinching john@pharmafield.co.uk A S S I S TA N T E D I T O R

Amy Schofield amy@pharmafield.co.uk ART DIRECTOR

Emma Warfield emma@pharmafield.co.uk COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR

Hazel Lodge hazel@pharmafield.co.uk SALES & MARKETING MANAGER

Rachel Cresswell rachel@pharmafield.co.uk FINANCIAL CONTROLLER

Fiona Beard finance@events4healthcare.com P f AWA R D S

Melanie Hamer melanie@events4healthcare.com PUBLISHER

Karl Hamer karl@events4healthcare.com pharmafield.co.uk events4healthcare.com @pharmafield @pharmajobsuk HEAD OFFICE

Spirella Building Bridge Road Letchworth Garden City Hertfordshire SG6 4ET United Kingdom Cover illustration by Alex Buccheri alexbuccheri.com The content of and information contained in this magazine are the opinions of the contributors and/or the authors of such content and/or information. Events4Healthcare accepts no responsibility or liability for any loss, cost, claim or expense arising from any reliance on such content or information. Users should independently verify such content or information before relying on it. The Publisher (Events4Healthcare) and its Directors shall not be responsible for any errors, omissions or inaccuracies within the publication, or within other sources that are referred to within the magazine.

The Publisher provides the features and advertisements on an ‘as is’ basis, without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability or fi tness for a particular purpose, other than those warranties that are implied by and capable of exclusion, restriction, or modification under the laws applicable to this agreement.

O

Letter from the Editor

ur industry is going through a continuous period of rather exhilarating change. The political landscape, technology and evolving demands in many disease areas have resulted in a decade of seismic shifts.

In many ways it has been a positive thing for pharma – an opportunity to reinvent itself; a chance to test itself in new arenas and, critically, to conquer new territories quicker than ever before.

Things that used to take 30 years now take five. In this issue, we find out how this acceleration has played out in several critical areas.

The UK has always been a buzzing cauldron of scientific innovation, but new partnerships and projects suggest a golden era beckons.

In these pages, we explore some of the most exciting research and development landmarks in the UK, and discover what their ambitions are.

In looking forward, we also examine the modern influences when it comes to pharma’s relationship with HCPs. The digital party has been in full swing for a while, but pharma has finally hung its hat up, and this has been good news for our tech-savvy HCP colleagues.

We will also look at the most headline-grabbing disease of the last 10 years – diabetes. Experts, patients and readers convene to ponder where we are now and what needs to done in order to avoid the predicted crisis.

Meanwhile, Alex Ledger provides his unique views as he scrutinises the future of medicine approval processes in the UK. In addition, a new marketing series begins, coffee mugs are raised to a dedicated local GP, pharma talent blossoms and our usual array of compelling columnists complete a sensational line-up.

Have a terrific day, Pf readers,

No copying, distribution, adaptation, extraction, reutilisation or other exploitation (whether in electronic or other format and whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes) may take place except with the express permission of the Publisher and the copyright owner (if other than the Publisher).

The information contained in this magazine and/or any accompanying brochure is intended for sales and marketing professionals within the healthcare industry, and not the medical profession or the general public.

Pf Magazine is published monthly. For a free U.K. subscription visit pharmafield.co.uk/subscribe.

HAVE AN OPINION ON SOMETHING YOU ' VE RE AD IN P f MAGA ZINE? @Pharmafield

M AG A ZI N E | J U N E 2017 | 1

CONTENTS N E WS

Bringing you this month’s essential headlines N E WS FO C U S

Are pharma companies leaving us?

C OV E R S TO RY

Britain still holds the key to great R&D F E AT U R E

Could dragon blood really slay MRSA? POLITICS

Alex Ledger on the future for non-NICE meds COFFEE BREAK

Coffee Break with a GP taking on diabetes M A R K E T I N G FO C U S

The start of a new series on marketing OPINION

David Thorne on understanding NHS policies OPINION

Deborah Evans’ busy morning at the pharmacy F E AT U R E

Is industry satisfying the needs of HCPs? F E AT U R E

Diabetes crisis still looms large over UK P H A R M ATA L E N T

Who’s moved on and who’s moved up P H A R M ATA L E N T

Consilient manager Amanda Paxon speaks O N YO U R R A DA R

Your heads up on industry developments

03 07 08 11 12 14 16 20 21 22 24 28 30 32

MAGAZINE

June READER’S VOICE: “The May issue of Pf Magazine gave a great insight into some of the exciting developments happening in the pharma industry. As a recent graduate, it’s exciting to know what emerging treatments I might be working with. Some of these treatments not only save the NHS money, but are being used in projects in Africa (Sayana Press and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation).

As our population is living longer, it feels even more important to celebrate milestones in treatments and medicines.

It also highlights the huge importance of R&D for the UK pharmaceutical industry.

To quote Pf, we’re at the beginning of a very exciting time.”

Elsie O’Leary – Graduate Medical Sales Representative.

HAVE YOUR SAY: Can we learn anything from how pharma is marketed in the USA? What do you think of Labour’s proposed healthcare policies?

Would you seek help from a pharmacist instead of your regular doctor?

We’ll be covering these issues in the next Pf Magazine – want to contribute?

GET IN TOUCH: hello@pharmafield.co.uk @pharmafield

@pharmajobsuk

Pf Magazine

BE IN THE KNOW. To request a FREE print subscription for your workplace, or to sign up to our weekly newsletters for the essential headlines, Jobs of the Week, Pharmatalent and thought-provoking features, visit pharmafield.co.uk/subscribe This issue and all past issues of Pf Magazine can be viewed online at issuu.com/pfmagazine

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P f N E WS : B R IN G IN G YOU TH I S M O NTH ' S E SS ENTI A L H E A D LIN E S

D

irector of Research and Development at Alzheimer’s Society, Dr Doug Brown, has said that the findings of a new study, which showed that gene mutation may speed up memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease, should not be a “cause for alarm”.

The study, published in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, found that gene mutation may accelerate the loss of memory and thinking skills in people who are at risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein produced by the gene of the same name, is one of a group of proteins called neurotrophins that help nerve cells grow, specialise and survive.

Researchers followed 1023 people with an average age of 55 for up to 13 years, who were at risk of Alzheimer’s disease, but healthy to begin with.

Subjects gave blood samples which were tested for the gene mutation, then their memory and thinking skills were evaluated at the start of the study and at each study visit, for up to five visits. Of the participants, 32% had the gene mutation.

When compared to people without the gene mutation, those with the mutation lost memory and thinking skills more rapidly. The researchers also found that people with more beta-amyloid had an even steeper rate of decline.

“This new research suggests that people who have a particular version of the BDNF gene experience slightly faster decline.” Dr Brown said.

“Much more research is needed to see whether the results stand up to scrutiny.”

DEMENTIA RESEARCH

Mind CRAFT

Pf View: Alzheimer’s is at a critical point with many research projects operating in grey areas. When results are disclosed, it is essential that caution should be exercised, in the face of both excitement and panic.

A P P R OVA L S

The ‘Key’ to life

M

SD has announced that its cancer drug Keytruda has received approval in a new Hodgkin lymphoma indication by the European Commission (EC).

The anti-PD-1 therapy has been ratified for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma, who have failed with a autologous stem cell transplant and brentuximab vedotin, or who are transplant-ineligible.

The EC’s decision was based on clinical data drawn from 241 patients involved in the KEYNOTE-087 and KEYNOTE-013 trials, which demonstrated the effectiveness of Keytruda.

The safety analysis supporting the EC approval of the drug was based on data from 3194 patients with advanced melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer or classical Hodgkin lymphoma across four doses.

Earlier this year, Keytruda was approved as a treatment for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer patients whose tumours have high PD-L1 expression, with no EGFR or ALK-positive tumour mutations.

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A P P R OVA L S .

TAG TRIUMPH

N

ICE has published its final Technology Appraisal Guidance on the use of ixekizumab (Taltz®), recommending Eli Lilly’s therapy within the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The treatment is aimed at adults with severe plaque psoriasis who have responded inadequately to standard systemic therapies.

Already accepted for restricted use within NHS Scotland, ixekizumab is designed to specifically target IL-17A, a protein which plays a key role in plaque psoriasis.

The NICE appraisal was supported by data on ixekizumab from three randomised double-blinded Phase III clinical trials in more than 3800 patients, across 21 countries.

C O M PA N Y N E WS

Events4Healthcare celebrates 10 successful years Events4Healthcare (E4H), a UK leader in providing medical education to pharmaceutical and healthcare professionals, and the publishers of Pf Magazine and Pharmafield.co.uk, recently celebrated its tenth anniversary, after the organisation was founded by Melanie Hamer in 2007.

Back then, Melanie identified a gap in the pharma market for a new kind of service provider with both industry and NHS knowledge. Demand quickly grew, and she recruited husband and former AstraZeneca colleague, Karl, to bring in his expertise.

The couple had already enjoyed successful careers in pharma. Melanie ‘carried the bag’ for GSK, Sanofi and AZ in a variety of sales, marketing and training positions, while Karl spent 15 years at AstraZeneca in strategic, marketing and operations roles.

E4H has rapidly expanded from a specialist face-to-face events company to producing tailored online programmes, webinars and apps; all created in response to specific customer needs.

The company has also organised all 17 annual Pf Awards events, with 2017’s becoming the biggest in its history. More companies and individuals than ever before entered, keen to gauge their performances against peers and experience the career boost that a Pf Award can bring.

E4H’s expansion continued with the acquisition of Pf Magazine in 2016, which has undergone a radical rebrand – embracing new audiences, changing the look of the magazine and altering the direction of content.

The company would like to thank every company, delegate, partner and friend it has worked with during E4H’s first decade, and looks forward to the next 10 years.

HAEMOPHILIA

BLOOD WORK S

hire Pharmaceuticals Ltd has shared initial findings from its estimate of Global Annual Bleed Rates (GABR), which show a bleeding episode occurs every three to 15 seconds worldwide – more than three times the current estimate.

In highlighting the findings, Shire joins the global bleeding disorders community in honouring the 28th annual World Haemophilia Day. Existing data from the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) shows that only 25% of individuals living with haemophilia worldwide receive proper diagnosis and care, while only 8% of these patients

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receive prophylaxis or regular treatment to prevent bleeds.

Shire developed the GABR in collaboration with renowned haemophilia institutions, including WFH. Together, they created a literature-based model to estimate the GABR at both country and global levels. A full report of the GABR model is expected to be published later in 2017.

Throughout the day and across the world, Shire employees wore red attire to show support for the community, and held celebrations to acknowledge the voices of those living with bleeding disorders.

Pf View: Pharma companies and their employees are starting to express themselves as human beings, beyond science, blister packs and branding.

It’s great to see.

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PA R T N E R S H I P S

Big pharma duo target NASH

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ovartis has entered into a clinical trial agreement with Allergan plc to conduct a Phase IIb study involving the combination of a Novartis FXR agonist and Allergan’s cenicriviroc (CVC) for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

NASH is the progressive form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, characterised by the accumulation of fat in the liver, inflammation and fibrosis, which can eventually lead to cirrhosis and liver failure. NASH is a major cause of liver disease worldwide. There are currently no approved treatments for the disease.

CVC is a once-daily oral phase III-ready immunomodulator, which blocks the two chemokine receptors – CCR2 and CCR5 – involved in inflammatory and fibrogenic pathways.

In the study, CVC demonstrated a clinically meaningful improvement in fibrosis of at least one stage, without any worsening of NASH after one year.

A P P R OVA L S .

Survival experts

Pf View: Five years ago pharma came under pressure for being secretive and unwilling to collaborate. Industry has since responded and this epitomises the new culture of productive intercompany teamwork.

The European Commission has granted full marketing authorisation for AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso (osimertinib).

The once-daily tablets treat adult patients with locally-advanced, or metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) T790M mutationpositive, non-small cell lung cancer.

The approval is based on results of the Phase III AURA3 trial, which were presented last year. The EGFR T790M mutation can be detected with a validated test, using either DNA derived from a biopsy or circulating tumour DNA obtained from a plasma sample.

AWA R D S

Royal approval for Clintec Global service Contract Research Organisation, Clintec, has been awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2017 in the category of International Trade for a second time.

The award is the highest accolade that can be granted to any business operating within the UK and recognises outstanding corporate achievement.

Clintec was selected from some of the top-performing UK businesses for its differentiated geographical capability in the mid-market contract research sector.

The company entered the sector 20 years ago and and now has a diverse geographical footprint with employees in over 50 countries.

Data from the trial showed that Tagrisso demonstrated statistically significant improvements in progression-free survival (PFS), over standard platinumbased doublet chemotherapy, in 419 patients whose disease had progressed during or after EGFR TKI therapy.

Among patients taking Tagrisso, the PFS was 10.1 months, compared to 4.4 months in the chemotherapy arm.

The objective response rate was 71% compared to 31% for chemotherapy.

Meanwhile, for 144 patients with metastases to the central nervous system, PFS was 8.5 months versus 4.2 months.

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PA R T N E R S H I P S

C O M PA N Y N E WS

Ashfield expands Ashfield Healthcare Communications has announced significant growth across the UK and Europe. A new presence in Dublin joins the office of Ashfield Ireland and parent company UDG Healthcare, while the company has also doubled the size of its current operations in Glasgow, with a move to larger offices in the city centre.

The expansion has been fuelled by strong growth for the company and a desire to attract new talent across both key cities. The move to a modernised Regent Street office, in Glasgow, will provide state-of-the-art office space to further grow the team, while the move to Dublin means that Ashfield has now positioned itself among the small number of healthcare communications agencies in Ireland.

Richard Lawrence, Executive Director at Ashfield Healthcare Communications, said: “We have been able to relocate staff to their vibrant home city of Dublin, and the move has meant that our remote workers already living in Ireland have a local hub to connect with our growing team of talented individuals.”

Ashfield Healthcare Communications currently has around 1000 staff across 23 healthcare communications agencies.

New marriage shares workload Pfizer and HitGen have partnered to launch a drug discovery collaboration. The multi-year research collaboration and licensing agreement will see the pair pool their expertise to discover unique small-molecule leads by building and screening novel DNA-encoded libraries (DELs).

HitGen will screen its own DELs, consisting of over 20 billion druglike compounds, against a number of Pfizer’s therapeutic targets.

Pfizer will fund the research at HitGen and retain exclusive licenses to novel lead compounds, from the HitGen DELs, for further research and development.

Dr Tony Wood, Pfizer’s SVP and Head of Medicinal Sciences, said: “The generation of proprietary DELs will leverage Pfizer’s parallel medicinal chemistry expertise and potentially accelerate the path of new medicines from idea to clinic.”

Quick doses R E C I P H A R M delivers its first batch of serialised drug products to Saudi Arabia, following introduction of new regulatory requirements.

• R&D collaboration between T XC E L L and I N S E R M to develop new CAR–Tregs in transplantation and multiple sclerosis.

A L L E R G A N successfully completes acquisition of medical technology company ZELTIQ® Aesthetics.

• Research finds that that THC, a chemical component of cannabis, could improve the memory and learning capabilities of old mice.

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N I C E recommends Stelara® (ustekinumab) for the treatment of moderately to severe active Crohn’s disease.

• E C has granted marketing authorisation for Dinutuximab beta Apeiron, an antibody-based immunotherapy treatment for neuroblastoma.

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N E WS FO CUS

E XPE RT ANALYS I S

In the first of a new series, we look at a notable story in sharp focus

Fed up pharma Industry big guns threaten to turn back on Britain.

A N D R E W DAV I S Chairman, NeoNavitas It’s not difficult to imagine that pharmaceutical companies would consider moving their R&D to other countries, especially as we have a precedent with Pfizer. The situation is probably worse than reported, as it is difficult to put a number on the value that pharma returns to the NHS, through patient access schemes, discounts, PPRS and rebates. Truly innovative products do, however, seem to be well-funded.

R

elentless rationing of treatments throughout the NHS and a limited health spend across Britain is causing pharma to consider taking their business elsewhere.

Industry has made it clear that if the NHS does not receive an extra £20 billion a year, companies will consider moving their research and development operations to other regions, while launching their new products in countries with ‘top tier’ healthcare systems.

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) said that patients and companies will suffer as a result, and new president, Lisa Anson, stated that the financial squeeze on the NHS threatened the whole of Britain’s £30 billion life sciences sector, adding that if politicians fail to prioritise health expenditure, “Britain risks becoming a desert for healthcare innovation”.

The ABPI, which represents several pharma giants, such as Pfizer and Novartis, added that British health spending should match the G7 average of 11.3% of its GDP, rather than its current 9.9%.

Meanwhile, some companies may extend their boycott to include clinical trials in the UK, as new treatments are tested against the most highly-rated existing therapies, which may not be available in Britain.

Britain has been a pioneer for medical research and innovation in the last three centuries, leading a number of significant Tory MPs to dismiss the threats as ‘bluffing’.

Pf View: Perhaps the pharma industry has earned the right to indulge in some political posturing, especially given the positive impact it has made on the British economy over many decades and, indeed, the rough ride it has endured in the media.

TI M WA R R E N Managing Director, Triducive Innovation is a key driver for the NHS and any innovation needs investment to achieve longer-term efficiency savings – which are much-needed by the NHS. Health expenditure has to be increased to bring us in line with the G7 average of 11.3%. Pharma companies pursuing innovation in R&D must balance commercial opportunity – without commercial success, their R&D budgets become threatened. It is a great shame that taking investment outside the UK is being considered, but we live in strange times, where norms are being challenged.

We cannot underestimate or dismiss this reality facing global industries.

M AG A ZI N E | J U N E 2017 | 7

Top 5 R&D hubs in the UK Join us on a tour of inspirational research and development centres.

WORDS BY

Amy Schofield I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y

Alex Buccheri

A

s the host to leading global universities and the finest scientific talent, the UK is a world–leading location for diverse and innovative research and development (R&D). The UK life sciences sector currently encompasses around 5000 companies, supports over 220,000 jobs, and generates an annual turnover of over £60 billion*.

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COVER STORY

1. ‘The Golden Triangle’ The South East of England has long been a thriving hub for R&D activity in the UK, and is home to the ‘Golden Triangle’ of London, Oxford and Cambridge.

OX FO R D Oxford has developed an impressive reputation in the biotechnology space, witnessing more than £1.2bn of investment in biomedical research over the last five years. The city is host to the Oxford Biotech cluster, one of the most mature life science clusters in Europe, as well as business, science and technology facility, Milton Park, home to around 250 businesses.

Oxford BioTrans, an Oxford University spinout, opened an R&D facility at Milton Park in 2016, while Adaptimmune, one of the UK’s leading cancer research companies, is steadily expanding. Ipsen has moved in, while Oxitec are in situ and working with the World Health Organisation to create a genetically modified mosquito. The aim is to decimate local mosquito populations, after it proved effective against Zika in small scale field trials.

The Oxford biotech cluster, supported by the Oxford Biotech Network (OBN), conducts a wide range of activities from traditional drug discovery and development to medical technology innovation. The University’s influence is significant, and its spin-out companies include Oxford BioMedica, Oxford Gene Technology and Celleron Therapeutics.

CAMBRIDGE Cambridge has been described by MP Daniel Zeichner as “the beating heart of research and science in the UK today”. In April this year, AstraZeneca marked a key milestone with the ‘topping out’ of its new state-ofthe-art, strategic R&D centre and global corporate headquarters at the heart of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC).

The company, including its biologics research and development arm, MedImmune, already has 2000 employees working in Cambridge among the city’s lively scientific, academic, clinical and business community. There is a high concentration of leading scientific organisations at the CBC, across Cambridge and the region, all sharing knowledge, skills and expertise.

Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, said: “We believe Cambridge offers a *parliament.uk

tremendously vibrant academic and life-sciences ecosystem that can truly catalyse discovery and innovation.”

LO N D O N A N D TH E G R E ATE R S O U TH E A S T MedCity is a collaboration between the Mayor of London, Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre, King’s Health Partners, UCL Partners, Cambridge Health Partners and Oxford Academic Health Science Centre. It was launched in April 2014 to promote and grow the world-leading life sciences cluster of the South East of England.

The greater South East region is home to five out of the UK’s six Academic Health Science Centres and has four universities regularly placed in the global top 10.

Just north of London, in Hertfordshire, are the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SBC), and Roche’s global R&D hub, in Welwyn Garden City. Roche invested almost half a billion pounds in UK R&D in 2016 and registered more clinical trials than any other company.

SBC is the UK’s first Open Innovation campus, created to bring academia, biotech and pharma companies together to advance healthcare research more effectively. SBC is jointly funded to the tune of £38m by BEIS, GSK, Wellcome and Innovate UK (TSB).

The University of Cambridge has located an innovation centre at SBC, where it can develop academic drug assets with access to relevant expertise at SBC and GSK. This will lead to the development of relationships with other leading universities, while UCL also has a presence on the site.

Outgoing CEO Martino Picardo says that it is the quality of scientific research in the UK that makes it a serious player on the global R&D stage. “We are world–leading in drug discovery and development across academia, small companies and corporates like GSK and Astra Zeneca, both of which have R&D sites in the UK,” he explained. “We are considered to rank alongside the Boston and California hubs and we must strive to stay at that level. The quality of the science is unquestionable and how we translate that science in new therapies and for patient benefit is good and will get better.”

“The Oxford biotech cluster conducts a range of activities from tradional drug discovery to technology innovation”

NUMBER

CRUNCHING ACCORDING TO ROCHE’S 2017 IMPACT REPORT, THE COMPANY:

INVESTED

£460M in UK R&D in 2016

CONTRIBUTED

£1.1 BILLION

18,700

in UK GDP & supported

JOBS IN 2016

INVESTED

£6.5BN in global R&D in 2015 -

MORE THAN ANY OTHER COMPANY

M AG A ZI N E | J U N E 2017 | 9

COVER STORY

SBC’s UK ‘bio–incubator’ is home to • Johnson & Johnson Innovation • Eli Lilly • Sanofi (has partnering desks at SBC) • GE Healthcare’s show laboratory • Medical Research Council Technology

2. The Northern Powerhouse When George Osbourne launched his plan to build a ‘Northern Powerhouse’ in 2014, his aim was to close the historical economic gap between north and south.

It is now home to over 1000 life sciences and healthcare companies operating across a wide range of specialisations. There are 45,000 people working in life sciences and healthcare-associated industries across the region, which covers the North East, North West and Yorkshire.

Global companies including Allergan, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, MSD, Recipharm and Shire serve UK and global markets from their key manufacturing and R&D operations based in the area.

TH E N O R TH E A S T The North East produces 33% of the UK’s GDP in pharmaceutical manufacturing with 95% of finished product exported to global markets, while MSD, in Cramlington, Northumberland, is one of the most advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing and packaging facilities in the world and employs over 400 people. The UK’s Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) opened its £38m National Biologics Manufacturing Centre (NBMC) in Darlington, Co. Durham, in 2015, to help companies develop, prove and commercialise new processes and technologies for the manufacture of biologics.

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New investment in the science base of the MedCity region includes: • The Francis Crick Institute • Imperial College London’s White City Campus • UCL East • Queen Mary University of London Life Sciences Institute • Cell Therapy Catapult manufacturing centre • The Cube at Londoneast-uk

TH E N O RTH W E S T Big pharma has made the North West its home, with several global pharmaceutical companies including Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca’s biologics arm, Medimmune, and Novartis Vaccines operating manufacturing facilities in Speke, Liverpool, as part of the largest cluster of biologic manufacturing in Europe.

Drug discovery and development firm RedX Pharma has established a 74,000 sq. ft. development facility at Alderley Park, Cheshire for Redx Oncology, which develops anti–cancer drugs. Additional investment in the region includes £4m for a drug discovery catapult, and £4m for the Antimicrobial Resistance Centre, both also at Alderley Park.

YO R K S H I R E A N D TH E H U M B E R The region is home to one of the largest clusters of orthopaedic, medical device and surgical companies in the UK, including Smith and Nephew and Reckitt Benckiser. WELMEC Centre of Excellence in Medical Engineering (which researches and develops new types of intervention for musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems), EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Medical Devices (Leeds, Bradford and Sheffield) and the Leeds Innovation and Knowledge Centre (IKC), also operate in the area.

3. Scotland Edinburgh’s BioQuarter site is a leading European destination for translational medical research. The site is home to institutions and companies including Queens Medical Research Institute, which brings together over 650 researchers with strengths in cardiovascular disease, reproductive health and inflammatory and respiratory research, and Fios Genomics, which provides bioinformatics data analysis services to pharma, CROs and academia for drug discovery and development and applied research. The world–leading Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine, which studies stem cells, disease and tissue repair to advance human health, has also made its home here.

4. Wales Launched in 2014, Life Sciences Hub Wales, based in Cardiff Bay, brings together Wales’ life sciences ‘eco system’ and honours the Welsh Government’s commitment to establishing the country as one of the foremost environments in the world for lifes sciences innovation, delivering at least £1 billion of extra value within the sector in Wales by 2022. Members of the hub include medical technologies and services company GE Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Novartis and MSD.

5. Northern Ireland There are more than 150 native firms in Northern Ireland’s life sciences space, employing 7500 people and exporting over £1bn.

The Almac Group, a contract development and manufacturing organisation which provides services to companies in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors all over the world, is headquartered in Craigavon, Northern Ireland. Services encompass R&D and biomarker discovery and development.

Almac is expanding in Craigavon by building a new lab and offices, and last year announced plans to expand into Dundalk, in the Republic of Ireland, to ensure access to the single market in the wake of Brexit uncertainty.

F E AT U R E WORDS BY

Amy Schofield

Could dragon blood slay MRSA? R

D

ONO

Don’t believe the hype: health headlines dissected TH E S TO RY

TH E R E S U LT S

Reaching a length of up to 10 feet and weighing in at 300 lbs, Komodo dragons are the largest living lizards on earth.

These fearsome predators are also hard as nails when it comes to recovering from wounds sustained in battles with other dragons, thanks to their astonishingly robust immune systems. Previous research has shown that they can harbour as many as 57 pathogenic bacteria in their mouths without even getting a sore throat. A team of researchers from Virginia in the US set out to find out more about the Komodo dragon’s secret defence against these bacteria, and discovered that proteins in its blood plasma could hold the answer. In an age of growing antimicrobial resistance, could this remarkable beast hold the key to slaying deadly hospital superbugs in humans?

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) are two superbugs that kill thousands of people every year. In tests using the eight synthesised peptides on mice infected with these bugs, seven were effective at killing both bacteria in lab-grown cultures, while only one was effective against P. aeruginosa, suggesting that Komodo dragon blood plasma contains a host of potentially viable antimicrobial peptides.

TH E R E S E A RC H The team from George (naturally) Mason University extracted blood from Komodo dragons, and analysed it for traces of cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs) – protein fragments that show antimicrobial activity. CAMPs, found in almost all living creatures, are an essential part of a healthy immune system and the team had previously discovered these proteins in alligator blood.

The scientists isolated peptides from the dragon’s plasma samples with a technique using negatively-charged nanoparticles made from hydrogel to capture them.

Analysis of the samples identified 48 peptides, 47 of which were derived from histone proteins and are known to have antimicrobial properties. They then synthesised eight of these peptides and tested them for their antimicrobial properties.

TH E D E A L Though these findings are a promising step forward in the development of new antibiotics and the fight against antimicrobial resistance, there is more work to be done in establishing the mechanisms by which the peptides are produced. The team concluded: “Future efforts will focus on determining whether peptides are constitutively produced or the result of pathogen detection, as well as whether this phenomenon is limited to Komodo dragons or if it occurs in other species, including humans.”

W HAT TH E PR E S S SA I D : “Is Komodo dragon blood the key to new antibiotics?” bbc.co.uk; “Dragon’s blood could hold the key to wiping out deadly superbugs” mirror.co.uk; “Dragon blood could provide a cure for antibiotic resistance” mnn.com

TIP THE

SCALES

KOMODO

DRAGONS can run up to

11MPH

IN SHORT BURSTS THEY HAVE AN AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN THE WILD OF UP TO

30 YEARS

80% A DRAGON CAN EAT

OF ITS BODY WEIGHT IN A SINGLE FEEDING.

THEIR DIET CONSISTS OF CARRION,

SMALLER DRAGONS,

DEER, PIGS, LARGE WATER BUFFALO

& OCCASIONALLY

HUMANS. M AG A ZI N E | J U N E 2017 | 1 1

BITTER PILL

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When will non-NICE reviewed medicines get taken seriously?

T WORDS BY

Alex Ledger

“The RMOC position has shifted to become primarily an implementing mechanism for medicines decommissioning.”

1 2 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K

he National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, or NICE, is an admirable institution, almost unique among other quangos to have survived numerous government changes and NHS restructures.

Since its creation in 1997, NICE has pioneered the use of cost-effectiveness and, along with Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY), is the go-to tool by which to measure the value of new products. NICE’s success has been game-changing. It transformed health economics into a professional discipline and, in doing so, the UK became the centre of a new academic field, with a new industry built around the use of economic methods to demonstrate the value of new health technologies.

Despite its excellent work, however, NICE reviews under 50% of newly launched medicines, and far fewer other technologies.

This leaves a sizeable proportion of medicines unassessed by NICE. These fall subject to a highly complex system, based largely at a local level, and governed by medicines management – or medicines optimisation – committees and a cadre of pharmacists and pharmacy advisors.

This architecture is diverse in terms of the processes used; operational timelines, inter-relationships between different

“There are estimated to be 600 different medicines assessment processes across the UK.” decision-makers and willingness to engage with industry. It is a multi-layered system that changes by geographical area. As the NHS has been reformed over the years by successive governments, this system has had committee added to existing committee, so that now there are estimated to be 600 different medicines assessment processes across the UK. These include CCGs, trusts, area prescribing committees, joint formularies, and support services, such as PrescQIPP and MTRAC. It’s a mind-boggling institutional melting pot.

Extreme complexity is all hidden behind the frontline NHS that patients typically experience. Clinicians and other healthcare providers are regularly left bemused by its processes and, meanwhile, industry faces a truly difficult task in trying to engage with them. At a time when the NHS is meant to be focussing on generating efficiencies, it stands opposed to the direction of travel.

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RIDGE AND RMOC Enter Dr Keith Ridge, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer and long-time trailblazer for medicines optimisation and the utilisation of pharmacy services. Ridge recognised two things – the system whereby innumerable local committees reviewed the same clinical data and value propositions to reach separate decisions on new medicines was unnecessarily duplicative and wasteful. Secondly, the same skilled professionals occupied by these processes could be redeployed to concentrate on other useful activities, such as optimising medicines use and, if possible, become involved in clinical care.

To reduce this inefficiency and release the resource tied up in medicines management, Ridge adopted an industry-led proposal.

Establish a structure of medicines evaluators, at a regional level, comprised of experts in the field that the rest of the NHS could trust, and adopt their decisions, allowing local teams to be re-deployed and commissioners to focus attention on more pressing areas.

Four Regional Medicines Optimisation Committees, or RMOCs, were born. The idea was that these committees, staffed by relevant experts, would review all new medicines, not looked at by NICE or NHS England, determine their value, advise on positioning and recommend on reimbursement. It would then be for CCGs and trusts to implement this; deploying the majority of medicines managers and pharmacists from evaluating formulary decisions, and allowing them to overcome pinch-points elsewhere in the system.

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The future looked promising for medicines not assessed by NICE. Rather than having to navigate a fragmented, widely variable set of formulary decision-makers, an RMOC assessment would suffice. Better still, the plan was that RMOCs not directly involved in the assessment of one particular medicine would ‘mutually recognise’, or adopt, the decision of the RMOC that had done the evaluation, meaning a single, national assessment was possible. This process would be transparent, include all relevant participants, apply standardised, rigorous processes and possibly use the expertise of NICE. A sensible plan.

The Operating Model for RMOCs was finally published in April 2017. Substantially delayed, the document from NHS England reveals that the vision offered by Ridge’s proposals has been substantially curtailed, and RMOCs have had their proposed powers cut. Their position has shifted to become primarily an implementing mechanism for medicines ‘decommissioning’ and costsaving programmes driven by the centre.

It is now clear that RMOCs no longer offer a solution to a dysfunctional system of multiple evaluations for medicines that are not looked at by NICE. Furthermore, their medicines evaluation role has been put on ice until the end of Spring 2018, and there is no commitment that it will be taken forward at this time.

Instead, their priorities have been set clearly in the direction of medicines decommissioning.

RMOCs are no longer Ridge’s baby alone.

The programme is now being jointly led by the NHS Clinical Commissioners, the organisation that was recently commissioned by NHS England to

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recommend a list of 10 products for removal from NHS baseline spending. They will become the bodies that help the NHS take unpopular decisions about where to withdraw funding from certain medicines. In the future expect percentage savings targets to be issued and the appearance of decommissioning lists, akin to PrescQIPP’s well-known ‘DROP List’ publications.

The question then is, how should industry respond to these bodies? It is likely that the move from evaluation to optimisation and decommissioning was a result of fears that an evaluation function would likely lead to more medicine spend on medicines not assessed by NICE. It is said that CCGs reacted negatively to the creation of RMOCs as a set of bodies that would dictate where they were to invest in new medicines.

The status of RMOC recommendations and all other outputs are now only ‘advisory’, as opposed to being mandated. While RMOC involvement in local or regional procurement processes at the moment is unclear, it is likely to evolve over time as part of the NHS’ move towards STPs and accountable care systems.

RMOCs could offer industry a useful opportunity to develop relationships at a more strategic level and discuss ‘value’ in a broader way, over and above cost-containment.

Unfortunately, however, it appears that this will simply become an additional layer of bureaucracy with which to engage/wrestle.

Alex Ledger is Deputy Managing Director at Decideum – the views expressed here are entirely his own. Go to decideum.com

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M AG A ZI N E | J U N E 2017 | 13

FAMILY TIES JP raises a mug of latte, without sugar, to Dr Hayley Kirsop, a GP who is dedicated to taking on diabetes.

INTERVIEW BY

1 4 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K

John Pinching

O

ur featured disease area this month is diabetes, so it’s great to have a coffee break with my special guest, Dr Hayley Kirsop, who is currently leading an initiative to tackle high risk diabetes patients in Harpenden.

What do you do, Hayley? I work as a GP at a partnership in Harpenden. I came into this role 14 months ago, after being on maternity leave and, prior to that, I was a partner at a big practice in West London.

Has working in Hertfordshire been a big change? There is less variety in the demographic of patients. When I was working in the central London practice there were very wealthy commuters, mixed with big areas of deprivation, including lots of immigrants and non-English speaking patients. There are less of those challenges in Harpenden but, interestingly, the pathology is still very similar, which I wasn’t expecting.

What particular initiatives are you implementing at your current practice?

My special interest is diabetes care and we’ve just set up a higher risk diabetic clinic at the practice, which targets poorly controlled diabetics. Alongside my very experienced diabetic practice nurse, I am looking to do ‘insulin starts’ in primary care, where typically they’ve been carried out by specialists. It’s better if they are looked after by their GPs; we can monitor their blood pressure, cholesterol and respiratory disease, while checking different reactions between medications.

Do diabetic patients appreciate more tailored care? Rather than wait six months to see the consultant, they can give us a call any day of the week about their blood sugars or if they’ve got a question about medication.

I think that’s the benefit of being a GP – we’re essentially small businesses and can do what we like within our budget constraints.

We can observe our population and see what will benefit it the most.

What are you hoping the patient outcomes from the clinic will be? In addition to increased patient satisfaction, we hope to see improvements in blood glucose, blood pressure, cholesterol control and, ultimately, a reduction in diabetes complications, such as eye and kidney problems, as well as heart attacks and strokes.

COFFEE BRE AK

Back in the day we used to eat Polos for breakfast, but no one had diabetes.

It’s a lifestyle disease and a product of our sedentary existence. This is why we are seeing such increased rates of childhood obesity. It is what will bankrupt the NHS. As a youth, did you dream of becoming a doctor? I was never one of those people who thought, ‘I just want to be a doctor’. I was good at science at school and wanted to challenge myself, so I looked for the hardest thing to study at University. It was medicine, so I thought, ‘I’ll give that a go’. Throughout my years at med school, when it went on so long and exams were hideous, I wondered whether I’d made the right decision. It’s only since I qualified that I’ve really started to enjoy it.

The years as a junior doctor are quite tough, but being a GP, getting that satisfaction of continuity of care and looking after families is really rewarding. Patients can be so grateful for what you think is just a simple thing.

What’s it like working within the NHS monolith? It’s tough working as a GP at the moment. There’s lots of long hours, but it’s still a privilege. To some extent GPs are protected from what is going on and we function in our own little worlds. Obviously, within the wider NHS, morale is low, but we are still working hard to deliver quality care to patients. Community services are being cut constantly and hospital waiting lists are going up, so when you know a patient won’t be seen for three months it is very frustrating.

What do you think of the 5YFV plan to have greater integration between GPs and hospitals? I think the opposite model works. Communication between hospitals and GPs does need to improve, but I wouldn’t want us to be completely absorbed into the healthcare machine, because we wouldn’t be able to carry out the initiatives I was telling you about. Populations have diverse needs and it is essential for GPs to be embedded in their communities. Patients really appreciate having a GP close to home. Going to the nearest hospital makes accessing healthcare more difficult and, consequently, things get neglected.

Do people still ask for antibiotics regardless of their illness? Yes, but people are becoming more educated about antibiotic resistance. I get very few patients coming in on ‘day one’ of a cough now; they will usually wait a week. Actually, the average

“Communication between hospitals and GPs does need to improve, but I wouldn’t want us to be completely absorbed into the healthcare machine.”

length of a viral cough is three weeks.

We can’t be too strict otherwise we will get patients coming through the door and five minutes later we’re calling an ambulance.

I’m always happy to be asked the question, “do I need antibiotics?”, as long as patients have the relevant symptoms.

What is your practice doing in terms of social prescribing? We refer patients to discounted weight loss schemes, have exercise prescriptions for our local sports centre and a community navigator who meets vulnerable patients and refers them to sources of help, such as financial or debt advice and carer support.

What do you find most rewarding about your job? Providing care to entire families. For instance, looking after a woman with fertility problems and, after she gets pregnant, looking after her baby and husband. Placing the pieces of the family jigsaw together, you can understand the background of health problems in detail.

As exciting as my A&E training was, I never got that satisfaction of following patients up and finding out whether you got it right!

What record would you choose for the soundtrack of your life? One that I always go wild to on the dancefloor is Tiffany’s, ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’.

Classic. It’s your last supper, what are you having? That’s easy. Doughballs with garlic butter, a mushroom pizza with a runny egg on top and, for dessert, rhubarb crumble and custard.

Three courses, coming up. Goodbye Hayley. Bye John.

M AG A ZI N E | J U N E 2017 | 15

PA RT O N E :

SETTING the SCENE Introducing a new series of ‘Marketing Focus’ articles, helping modern marketeers to thrive in the changing healthcare environment.

Stewart Adkins was a Pharmaceutical Analyst at Lehman Brothers for 23 years and now writes independently.

Dr Graham Leask worked in industry for over 20 years and now works with Warwick University as a writer and researcher on pharma strategy.

16 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K

I

n the first of the series, Dr Graham Leask and Stewart Adkins set the scene with the first of a two-part feature addressing the changes facing pharma professionals today.

From a global perspective, the key drivers of change within the pharma marketplace have existed for some years. The shift in product mix towards more expensive, low volume, speciality medicines continues apace. This situation meets increasing resistance from payers, as these drugs concentrate the pharmaceutical budget on fewer patients.

Pharmacoeconomic arguments rage on, but the reality is that governments seem unprepared to cancel out future cost savings from current costs in its societal calculus. As a consequence, the rise in Health Technology Assessment groups, for example the UK’s National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), is a way for payers to contract out the difficult decisions of market access and effective rationing.

In the meantime, payers have forced prescribers to follow more restricted prescribing guidelines in an effort to control today’s budget.

The concentration of decision-making in the hands of opinion-leaders and pharmacy committees changes the role of commercial organisations, encouraging more peer-to-peer

SMART ANALYTICS

Amy Schofield

The benefits of

WORDS BY

medical liaison at the top of the ecosystem, and fewer ‘face-to-face’ calls with GPs at the bottom.

This is a necessary change with specialty drugs, but means a big reduction in contact time between pharma corporations and primary care physicians.

Strategically the shift in product mix has encouraged pipeline realignment, with more emphasis on in-licensing of biotech drugs or straight acquisition of the license-holder.

This has left traditional ‘white pill’ companies struggling to generate reasonable growth, whereas relative late-comers, such as Shire Pharmaceuticals or Celgene, have shown strong expansion. There is little expectation, however, that these newcomers will solve continuing problems in the world of primary care. For that, we may have to await a resurgence of chronic diseases that do not yield to today’s generics.

“Strategically the shift in product mix has encouraged pipeline realignment, with more emphasis on inlicensing of biotech drugs”

MARKETING MA R K E T C A P PR E A N D P OS T A DJ U S TM E NT A F TE R CUT TI N G 1 5% O F S E LLI N G , G E N E R A L A N D A D M I N E X PE N S E S

MA R K E T C A P A DJ U S TE D FO R S E LLI N G , G E N E R A L A N D A D M I N E X PE N S E S SAV I N G S I N %

 Saving just 15% of SG&A can add $2-34bn of Market Cap

 Translates to adding 4-39% to market value (depending on PE multiple)

100,000

0.4

 Market Cap $bn  Additional market cap = additional earnings x PE multiple

A MA R K E TI N G & SA LE S M O D E L FIT FO R TH E 2 1 S T C E NTU RY The application of modern analytical methods to sales and marketing data should enable each company to develop a mix of promotional activities that form part of a feedback loop, each component of which can be optimised for best effect. Currently such processes are impeded by a reticence to use the new sophisticated statistical methods that are required to analyse pharmaceutical data accurately. Reliance on inadequate tools such as Excel and visualisation tools like ‘Tableau’, that incorporate an Excel-type analytics capability, is a major cause of this problem.

Accurate timely adjustment of activity and sales response, guided by these ‘appropriate sophisticated tools’, will allow campaigns to be finely tuned throughout each promotional cycle, thus minimising waste and boosting sales and margins. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate this point and show the considerable benefit of moving away from Victorian techniques and embracing modern methods.

The trialling of novel campaigns in mutually exclusive geographic areas and the rapid feedback that modern analytics can produce will allow more selective or targeted approaches. The result? More accurate targeting, and less wasteful campaigns tailored to the local environment.

MRK

LLY

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0

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LLY

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SHIRE

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SAN

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NOVARTIS

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SHIRE

250,000

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1.4

NOVARTIS

350,000

50,000

Figure 2

1.6

AZN

Figure 1

400,000

 Market Cap  Additional market cap = additional earnings x PE multiple

“The trialling of novel campaigns will allow more selective or targeted approaches” TH E I M PAC T O F D I G ITA L Currently, few companies are monitoring the true impact of digital. They simply throw it into the promotional mix and watch the ripples in the pool. A pick up in sales is regarded as positive whereas the true cause may be elsewhere. Only a true isolation of the impact of all the promotional puzzle pieces, including digital, can lead to strong conclusions about digital, one way or the other. Unsophisticated blanket use of digital is equivalent to a pollutant, as indiscriminate use is likely to blunt doctors’ responsiveness to contemporary channels rather than encourage new productive forms of interaction.

In contrast, clever use of digital to cover uneconomic surgeries, or move the call frequency achieved on a customer into an effective band, is likely to sharply improve productivity. Thoughtful blending of promotion with sophisticated analytics can produce tailored campaigns that are a win–win for company and healthcare professional alike.

Next month, in part 2, Graham and Stewart look at the shift from treatment to prevention, and outline what the healthcare landscape of the future will look like.

M AG A ZI N E | J U N E 2017 | 17

PF AWARDS 2017 WINNERS PROFILE:

Coloplast’s, NHS Partnership Manager, Shaun Hopkins, and Registered Nurse, Tracey Murphy – Winners of the Account Project Award.

INTERVIEW BY

hat do you do at Coloplast?

SH: I am an NHS Partnership Manager and believe I have one of the most fulfilling jobs in the industry. I am responsible for devising and implementing joint working projects, which improve the lives of people living with intimate healthcare needs, such as life-saving gastric surgery from cancer, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

TM: I am a member of the Coloplast Nursing Team and specialise in Urology, focusing on the teaching of intermittent self-catheterisation.

18 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K

John Pinching

How did you feel about winning a prestigious Pf Award? SH: At first I didn’t hear, as the lady announced the winner as ‘La La Land’ and the room erupted.

Somebody on my table said, “Shaun you’ve won, you should probably stand up!”.

TM: I was amazed, the candidates were all so deserving. I feel very proud that our work has been recognised in this way.

What was your experience like on Assessment Day? SH: The day was very professionally run, the instructions were clear and I was very impressed by the level

ADVERTORIAL of thought that had gone into the day.

All candidates were extremely friendly and there was plenty of time to catch up with friends. The best part of the day was the engagement from the judges – all three of them were incredibly attentive.

TM: I was nervous, but the judges were welcoming and interested in our work.

They asked questions which gained insight, and explored the nature of what we were trying to achieve. The project means so much to us and being able to showcase the results was a privilege.

What was the key to your success in the Account Project category?

SH: Three things – delivering a truly great NHS project, keeping it simple when explaining the project, and being engaging.

TM: Patient outcomes and collaborative working. Working alongside the CCG enabled this project to work on all levels. The medicines management team were at every clinic with me, validating cost savings, but also ensuring that clinical recommendation was amended on the patient’s prescriptions to avoid delays. Some of the patients that took part had had no healthcare input, regarding their continence, for up to 20 years. Seeing the improvements that clinics made to their self-esteem and quality of life was a true measure of the success.

How will winning the award inspire you? SH: We know our projects have a lifechanging impact on patients, but winning an award has demonstrated that the projects we invest so much time and resources in are truly best-in-class for the pharma and medtech industries. This is something that Coloplast, Tracey and I are immensely proud of.

TM: A project this big is very exciting, but also very challenging. When you are able to see the value to patients and the cost savings to the NHS it inspires you to

“We know our projects have a life-changing impact on patients, but winning an award has demonstrated that the projects are truly best-inclass for the pharma and medtech industries.”

carry on. This project is just the beginning – we are talking to neighbouring CCGs to replicate the work in other areas.

Tell us more about Coloplast, its aims and ethos. SH: Coloplast’s mission is to make life easier for people with intimate healthcare needs. Our vision is to achieve that through setting the global standard in listening and responding. This mindset ensures that whatever your role at Coloplast, you are always challenging yourself to understand the needs of consumers and customers.

What are you working on at the moment?

SH: One of the challenges in our market is the lack of specialist nurses, like Tracey.

We are working on models that increase access to better care for more patients.

TM: I am working alongside Urology departments in the South East to provide support and teaching to new patients.

What is the most rewarding aspect of working in the healthcare arena?

SH: It’s the feeling you get when a project team delivers a project successfully. We all work exceptionally hard in this industry and encounter many challenges, therefore success should be celebrated before moving on to the next big thing.

TM: I have been a registered nurse for 20 years and worked in many fields of nursing.

The role has always been about the patient.

To be able to make a difference to someone is the most powerful thing you can do.

How do you feel your company makes a difference? SH: Coloplast makes a huge difference in a number of ways. Firstly, our world-class innovative R&D teams are passionate about making the best products on the market. Secondly, the people at Coloplast are united in their goal – it’s like an army of people who want to help consumers forget about their intimate condition. Also, the services and projects that we invest in, combined with the products and people, have resulted in a winning formula.

TM: Coloplast was founded by a nurse looking for a solution to her sister’s need for a stoma management device. Coloplast’s mission is to make life easier for people with intimate heathcare needs, and its nursing team, are the embodiment of that. They also have a portfolio of devices that are able to change the way people live and cutting edge design that focuses on what patients need.

What ambitions are you keen to fulfil in the future? SH: To lead a national team that can deliver hundreds of these projects.

I would get tremendous fulfilment from helping so many people.

TM: I am hoping to increase the number of clinics, with an increased number of patients. I am also keen to undertake my MSc in Urology and work towards promotion. In all honesty, as long as I continue to improve lives, I’ll be happy. Go to coloplast.co.uk

At Coloplast, our mission is to make life easier for people with intimate healthcare needs. How would you feel about working for a 2017 Times Top 100 company?

Find out more: www.coloplast.co.uk/curious M AG A ZI N E | J U N E 2017 | 19

OPINION

WORDS BY

David Thorne

The CEP fits?

The capped expenditure process (CEP) was outlined in NHS England’s 5YFV as a requirement to produce affordable operating plans.

Over the past year there has been an £800m underspend by commissioners, although there will be continued pressure to make savings over the next two years.

2 0 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K

Shape of things to come The NHS debate has started, but there will be dangers for pharma which it must prepare for.

T

he early days of the election campaign points to an increased Conservative majority. I suspect, however, some fascinating sub-plots, even if the overall result is nailed on.

Most people I encounter feel that no politician or party actually speaks for them – it’s a dangerous level of alienation.

Regardless of the result, the challenges for healthcare, the NHS and pharma remain the same.

We are starting to see a public debate around what the NHS is and we need to have the courage to grasp the nettle on supply and demand. Make no mistake, even if tax rises were viable, the impact upon the NHS budget would only be marginal.

Any new government will confront demand through increased self-care, prevention, co-payment, set limits to NHS treatment and rationing. We’ll see a similar focus on supply aspects around hospitals, workforce and procuring materials. Prepare for an attack upon NHS staff terms and conditions.

It started with locums, but you’ll see moves to get non-clinical staff into outsourced arrangements. The pace of change will surprise many. In primary care, for example, there may be a move to a new type of GP, who leads multi-skilled teams. This would mean considerably fewer traditional GPs in the future.

Unfortunately for pharma, it forms the largest variable NHS cost and lacks powerful friends, but there are worse things than being unpopular! Pharma’s problem is that it risks being seen as irrelevant, and not a cost-saving option.

I have seen only one Sustainability and Transformation Plan mention medicines as an enabler of positive change (linked to long-

acting reversible contraception). Recently, a gynaecologist spoke passionately about a medicine during a discussion at our hospital, but I can’t remember the last that happened. I also saw an excellent documentary the other day on schizophrenia, but it failed to convey the excellent interpersonal work, which differs dramatically from what I experienced as a nurse 30 years ago, and which has only been achievable because of new medicines.

“Unfortunately for pharma, it forms the largest variable NHS cost and lacks powerful friends, but there are worse things than being unpopular!”

Am I exaggerating the threat to pharma?

Check out Capped Expenditure Process (CEP). Do you know which territories and accounts are subject to this new central NHS control?

Addressing drug spend is a mandatory part of the plan. It is a sign of the integrated ‘future NHS’, with no distinction made to CCG or Foundation Trust independence, no real commissioner-provider separation and a threat to ditch payment by results.

Pharma must have a clear strategy, which prepares for all these eventualities, and that may mean rejecting pathways they have been conditioned to follow for decades.

David Thorne is Chair, Washington Community Healthcare and Non-Executive Director, City and Vale GP Alliance. Go to blueriverconsulting.co.uk

OPINION

C

ommunity pharmacy is increasingly cited by some as the ‘magic bullet’ for NHS woes, yet others challenge whether we are clinicians at all.

The public, however, are waking up to the possibility of accessing a highly-qualified healthcare professional, without needing an appointment with a GP. But is the value provided by community pharmacy a reality?

I work in a community pharmacy every other weekend. It gives me enormous pleasure to work with patients and put my clinical knowledge to effective use. People are mostly grateful and I’m in my element.

On a recent morning, working with a registered technician, we dispensed and checked around 150 items, and I clinically checked a further batch of 100 items, for future dispensing in monitored dosage systems. Three potential safety issues for the GP were identified during the morning, including an anticholinergic burden, a patient needing to go on a protonpump inhibitor and a dose concern for a child under two years of age.

Meanwhile, two patients telephoned – one was at the end of her tether; her husband was becoming aggressive, because of dementia, and would not take his tablets. I listened to her worries, provided some medicinetaking advice and directed her to additional support. Another person required advice for a sick relative, who was considering calling the out-of-hours service. Self-care information about taking paracetamol, rest and plenty of water, along with advice about medical intervention, averted a call out.

After recent NHS England campaigns, I have noticed more people asking to speak to the pharmacist and my morning was no exception.

I also dealt with conjunctivitis, a suspected case of shingles, a sore back, an infected insect bite, several queries about medicines and an emergency contraception request.

Back in the dispensary, paperwork was completed on controlled drugs, including methadone for one of our supervised consumption clients, and morphine for a terminally ill patient. The methadone user was in a particularly bad way, having slept rough for the previous three nights.

He had started injecting in his neck, and showed me a growing lump.

A referral to A&E was necessary, although I wasn’t confident he would go. This aspect of the role is frustrating, as support for homeless people is under huge strain.

“I dealt with conjunctivitis, a suspected case of shingles, a sore back, an infected insect bite, several queries about medicines and an emergency contraception request.”

WORDS BY

Deborah Evans

Counter culture An average morning in community pharmacy may surprise you.

I then conducted an asthma device review for a child who was prescribed a salbutamol inhaler. Her mum appreciated her daughter being encouraged to take ownership of her condition.

Finally, a few minutes before closing time, I made a call to follow up on a ‘New Medicine Service’ for a lady recently diagnosed with diabetes, and newly prescribed metformin. Our initial discussions had identified a need to eat more healthily and lose weight; while she was tolerating her metformin well, she was struggling with weight reduction. A few tips helped her back on track.

Does community pharmacy add value to the clinical care of patients?

I’ll leave you to decide.

Deborah Evans is Managing Director of Pharmacy Complete, Board Member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society England and practices in a pharmacy within a GP practice.

Go to pharmacycomplete.org or email deborah@pharmacycomplete.org

M AG A ZI N E | J U N E 2017 | 2 1

s pharma adapts to an ever-evolving landscape, the traditional role of the pharma salesperson is changing rapidly and the usual channels of engagement are shifting as healthcare professionals’ (HCPs) needs evolve.

What is pharma doing to keep up with the swiftly developing needs of the modern HCP? Transparency and trust are vital components of the relationship between pharma and HCPs, however, equally important is ease of access to engaging and relevant information. The way that we all, HCPs included, consume information is evolving at lightning speed.

HCPs are often true ‘digital natives’, who increasingly prefer digital modes of interaction, and pharmaceutical firms need to be aware of this and adapt their methods to create a mutually beneficial relationship.

According to Lawrie Jones, Managing Director of marketing agency 42group, pharma companies understand that the way their customers consume information has changed. “As an audience, healthcare professionals – like the rest of the population – are more demanding now,” he explains.

Catarina Serrano, Associate Director, Multichannel Strategy, QuintilesIMS, says that the traditional models of engagement are now being challenged: “Digital natives expect better, quicker, cheaper and more personalised access to content, crucial to easing the funding and time constraints they face. The rise of digital channels has transformed the way we seek information and interact. In addition, direct access to HCPs is becoming more difficult, resulting in fewer minutes of rep engagement,” she explains. “Such an environment challenges the traditional model (promotional push, face-to-face) into a customer-led interaction (pull approach, digital), which requires pharma to integrate digital channels, evolve, and tailor its contents.”

2 2 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K

The RULES of ENGAGEMENT

How is pharma adapting to the evolving needs of the modern healthcare professional?

WORDS BY

Amy Schofield

A whitepaper from PricewaterhouseCoopers, ‘Pharma 2020: Marketing the future – Which path will you take?’ predicted that ‘By 2020, the role of the traditional sales representative will be largely obsolete’. The HCP traditionally needs information from pharma that is reliable, timely, relevant and consistent, while the pharma rep’s objectives are engagement, growth and retention. Channels of interaction with HCPs have traditionally included email, pharma company websites, social media, telephone contact, direct mail, and walk-in. While these are recognised by pharma as effective ways for them to reach HCPs, the triumvirate

of the internet, social media and mobile devices has radically altered the traditional interactions between the two. The way that HCPs become engaged is changing fast and pharma needs to catch up to avoid becoming a dinosaur lumbering behind the chase.

“Pharma has been slow to embrace digital but companies are investing and looking for ways to better reach and serve HCPs through tools such as email, online detailing and streaming video. Still, an effective multichannel strategy remains a challenge,” adds Catarina.

MARKETING

M IXI N G IT U P Karl Wilson, Business Operations Manager, Roche Products Limited, says that a mix of both traditional and digital methods of engagement enables pharma to adapt to the evolving needs of the modern healthcare professional.

“We are committed to collaborating with the NHS and third parties to deliver appropriate solutions and/or added value services via appropriate channels,” he explains. “A crucial element in this drive is the development of an integrated, consistent and coordinated approach to external communication, utilising a range of traditional and digital capabilities.”

An anonymous GP says that in the last six years they have seen a marked shift in practice policy for GP surgeries whereby they will not see any pharmaceutical reps at all. “GPs are so time-pressured now – it is so difficult to recruit new GPs to share the workload.”

The pressures that HCPs find themselves under has driven the shift to more ‘virtual’ forms of engagement, however, this engagement needs to be appropriate to the individual. It’s horses for courses, and an integrated approach allows pharma to be flexible in their strategies. “I personally prefer face-to-face engagement with drug reps, but I know that I am an extrovert and prefer auditory learning compared to visual or kinaesthetic,” says the GP. “Most GPs are introverts so may not enjoy face-to-face meetings and may prefer to engage online if they have time.”

Catarina agrees that it is the mix which is crucial to success: “Despite the need for digital presence, to fully engage with HCPs, the rep remains the most recognised channel in pharma.

Digital, which has been described as “The rep remains to the traditional field model, the most recognised aisthreat in fact an opportunity to enhance channel in pharma” the rep’s role.”

GLOBAL

REACH

$15 The typical

PHARMA MARKETER SPENDS

PER $100 of spend on digital HCP PORTALS BRAND PROMOTIONAL EMAILS, KOL WEBINARS AND MOBILE APPS ARE THE

TOP THREE channels used to

REACH HCPS EFFECTIVELY

2018 It is predicted that by

CO NTE NT TO B E D I FFE RE NT The growing trend for mobile browsing means that the ways HCPs consume information is changing, and other new and engaging content forms, also beginning to be used by pharma to engage with their customers, include films, animations and infographics. “It’s all about creating compelling content that’s shareable, creating a discussion around an issue,” says Lawrie.

Content-based strategies also allow pharma companies to improve recognition and reputation amongst HCPs. “Resources can build over time, providing a useful database of information for healthcare professionals.

It won’t replace face-to-face meetings and communication, but it builds trust and faith in a brand that’s important,” says Lawrie.

“In the future, the use of contentbased approaches will increase. New technologies can help push this trend, with the potential for AI (artificial intelligence) and possibly even VR (virtual reality) offering amazing ways pharma companies can engage directly with healthcare professionals. It’s a really exciting time to be working in the field.”

“As an audience, healthcare professionals – like the rest of the population – are more demanding now”

THE GLOBAL PHARMA

19% marketer will spend

OF THEIR MARKETING BUDGET ON

NON-PERSONAL DIGITAL CHANNELS Source: The Digital Savvy Pharma Marketer, 2016 (Indegene)

M AG A ZI N E | J U N E 2017 | 2 3

Crisis averted?

The diabetes apocalypse headlines continue and the threat is still very real.

D

iabetes still dominates the news.

People in their thousands are being diagnosed with the type 2 version and public bodies warn of a healthcare crisis.

Indeed, type 2 diabetes has become the de facto disease of modern times; a punishment for our descent into procrastination, screen-gazing and an insatiable appetite for junk food.

Meanwhile, the number of people with the much less common type 1 are growing, but mainly through better diagnosis. Nonetheless, the UK has one of the highest rates of type 1 diabetes on the planet.

In both cases, proactive self-management of the diseases has been key to greater survival. Pharma has had to react to the societal shift, creating new products that engage patients and urge them to take control.

Meanwhile, diabetes prevention programmes are being rolled out by the NHS following recommendations in the Five Year Forward View.

WORDS BY

John Pinching

V I E W FRO M TH E E X PE RT

J E N NY HIRST M B E Co-Chair of the InDependent Diabetes Trust

The treatment and care people receive varies from one area to another, ranging from excellent to poor care. This is clearly demonstrated in the National Diabetes Audit 2015/16. For people with type 1 diabetes, the targets achieved for HbA1c levels, blood pressure and cholesterol varied from 11%, in some Clinical Commissioning Groups, to 34% in others.

While people with type 2 diabetes fared better, there was still a wide variation from 33% to 49%. Diabetes care should not depend on where you live!

A major problem is the rationing of glucose test strips to people with type 1 diabetes for unacceptable reasons, from ‘you are only allowed one tub of test strips a month’, to the number of test strips ‘dropping off’ repeat prescriptions. In doing this, GPs and CCGs are in breach of NICE guidelines, which state that ‘support should be offered to adults with type 1 diabetes to test at least four times a day, and up to 10 times a day’ in certain circumstances.

From 2009 to 2014 the number of people with type 2 diabetes, who were offered structured education within a year of diagnosis, increased to 82%, but for those with type 1 diabetes, the increase was only 5% to 39% during the same period.

In the UK, 130 amputations take place each week. Shockingly, 80% of these are preventable, if people are told of the risks, given advice on looking after their feet and receive the correct treatment at the correct time. Sadly, for many people this is not the case, as the figures clearly show.

How can people with diabetes be expected to meet targets for their long-term health, if they’re denied education and tools?

They only spend two to three hours a year with a healthcare professional, so they need the knowledge and skills to manage their diabetes through education.

The InDependent Diabetes Trust (IDDT) is an independent charity which provides support to people with diabetes, and their families. It does not accept funds from the pharmaceutical industry.

Go to iddtinternational.org or call 01604 622837.

2 4 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K

F E AT U R E

CA S E I N P O I NT:

KE ITH MACB R AYNE D I AG N O S I S It happened in 1986. I was 43 and a Captain with Britannia Airways, on the Boeing 737 200. With another 17 years to go until retirement, it wasn’t work, it was play. Then I went to the doctors with a rash, and they tested my blood sugar – it was 19. They said, “you can’t fly with that”, and I thought they meant for a couple of weeks, but it was the end of my flying career. I went home from work one day and never went back.

R E AC TI O N It was a bit of a shock. I had health and flying license insurance, so wasn’t short of money, but I needed something to do for the next 20 years. I had been a trustee with the Britannia Airways Pension Scheme, so went to work with Equitable Life, but didn’t enjoy selling life insurance, so I quit and, for the next 20 years, did all the things people normally do as teenagers.

REALIT Y I realised I was neglecting my diabetes – I was just drifting. I used to use a disposable syringe and, British culture being what it was, would go to the toilet to inject. On one occasion, at Cliff Richard’s anniversary concert, at Wembley, I went down to the toilets and thought, “I could catch something here”. After that, I kept a prefilled syringe in my pocket – I could just open my shirt and stick it in my stomach.

S TA B I L IT Y Life was fine, but my stability wasn’t – I was having a few hypos (hypoglycaemia reactions) and one night my wife found me white and twitching. When the paramedics brought me round my blood sugar was 1; caused by lipohypertrophy (lipo). Insulin is a growth hormone and if you puncture a fat cell you eventually get a lump or lipo,

and I have several of these. If the insulin enters one, it just sits there, so you need to rotate the site. When you’re doing it five times a day, that’s difficult.

K N OW L E D G E After my near-death experience, I became passionate about staying alive. I did the DAPHNE (diet adjustment for normal eating) course, at Bedford hospital; one of the best diabetes centres around. My knowledge grew, and I met specialist Claire Springall, who introduced me to Becton Dickinson – the needle manufacturers.

The company wanted me to help promote correct injection technique, so they used me for demonstrations.

CHANGE I have been wearing a remote-controlled Omnipod for three years. It’s amazing, available on the NHS and doesn’t have tubes. It administers the insulin through a capillary under the skin, throughout the day. I also self-fund an Abbott Freestyle Libre – a wearable, which reads your sugar level. It’s more effective than finger pricking, but the challenge is working out how much insulin to deliver, because the two devices do not ‘talk’ to each other.

FREEST YLE If we gave the Libre to everyone with type 1, we would save a huge portion of the 10% health budget that goes on diabetes.

It provides much better insulin control and would be less painful, particularly for children. There are other pumps, but they have half-a-metre of tube attached.

I trialled one and they are a pain in the backside – you don’t want to be untangling tubes every time you use the toilet!

F R U S TR ATI O N The DVLA recently changed its policy, so that all drivers with type 1 diabetes have to test their blood an hour before driving and every two hours during. Finger-pricking only tells you the score at that very moment, while the Libre records the last eight hours.

NICE needs to get its finger out and make it available on the NHS. FU T U R E I did have a reading of 8.9, but since being on the Omnipod, it’s 7.3. Normal is 3.5, so I’m pretty close to that zone – my goal is to get it down to under 7 within the next year. The more knowledge that is devolved to patients, the better we can look after ourselves!

PROGRESS It’s been an exponential curve in diabetes and the last 15 years have witnessed incredible progress. In America they are trialling an artificial pancreas – and I’d love to be on that. In terms of dietary information there is only one restaurant chain I know of that provides the carbohydrate content of every single item on the menu – McDonald’s.

“It was the end of my flying career.

I went home from work one day and never went back.”

M AG A ZI N E | J U N E 2017 | 2 5

F E AT U R E

NOTES ON DIABETES 370 MILLION

E S TAB LI S H E D D IAB E TE S TR E ATM E NTS:

Companies making a difference

PEOPLE

WORLDWIDE with diabetes

3.6 MILLION

GSK

E L I L I L LY

Eperzan (injection T2) Tanzeum (injection T2)

Bydureon (injection T2) Humulin (injection T1/T2) Tradjenta (pill T2)

PEOPLE

N OVO NORDISK Tresiba (injection T1/T2) Victoza (injection T2) PRANDIN (pill T2)

A B B OT T

BAY E R

FreeStyle InsuLinx (monitor T1/T2) FreeStyle Libre (wearable injection, as used

by Keith, T1/2)

Contour XT (glucose meter T1/T2) Contour (test strips T1/T2) NEXT USB (blood data transfer T1/T2)

700 PEOPLE DIAGNOSED WITH DIABETES IN THE UK (90% TYPE 2)

diagnosed with diabetes

EVERY DAY CHINA HAS THE HIGHEST

Sources: Diabetes UK, diabetes.co.uk

READER’S

VOICE

V HA

EY OU

D I A B E TE S SY M P TO M S Sexual problems High blood sugar Always tired, hungry or thirsty Unexplained weight loss or gain Frequent urination Diabetic foot Blurry vision or dizziness Tingling hands or feet

2 6 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K

ld

FOLLOWED BY INDIA & AMERICA

Ken Saunders on type 2 diabetes:

f ie

population of people with diabetes,

R S AY @phar

ma

“My lifestyle changed overnight – I now take metformin and simvastatin, and there’s no more sugar, beer, chocolate and certain fruits. I have been on a new insulin and have had great blood sugars results, with an average of 5, but the worries are eyesight, feet problems and general illness.”

P H A R M ATA L E N T

Career high fives

Clare Jones, Senior Consultant at CHASE, shares her top tips for securing that dream job.

1.

THE MOTTO

90% 10% “It’s

preparation,

perspiration.”

3.

THE PLAN

“Be committed to your goal.

Through planning and organisation, determination and perseverance comes confidence.

Without confidence you can’t achieve your goals.”

2. 4.

THE GOAL

“There are many similarities to achieving goals in life. Whether that is landing that perfect job, or, in my case, crossing the finish line after 26.2 gruelling miles at this year's Boston Marathon!”

TH E R E WA R D

“Crossing that line and achieving my goal is the best feeling – totally exhilarating and rewarding.

It’s then that I know that the commitment

and dedication to pounding the streets in all weathers, the early starts, having to think about what I eat all the time, has paid off.”

5.

THE TOOLS

“When you set your sights on that perfect job, commit yourself to the preparation required to ensure your best performance.

Utilise all the tools available to help you reach your goals – you can achieve anything if you set your mind to it.”

Clare is also running Berlin Marathon this September. Her goal is to complete all six Abbott World Marathon Majors. With London, New York and Boston completed, she will be running Chicago in October 2018, finishing with Tokyo in February 2019.

M AG A ZI N E | J U N E 2017 | 2 7

P H A R M ATA L E N T

MOVERS & SHAKERS

MICHAEL HARRIS

DR SONIA QUARATINO

Ethypharm has announced the appointment of Michael Harris as Chief Operating Officer. Previously he was CEO of Martindale Pharma.

Michael said: “I am delighted to become part of the Ethypharm team and am excited to help our patients that need innovative pain, addiction and critical care products.”

Kymab has appointed Dr Sonia Quaratino as Chief Medical Officer.

She will manage the clinical development of Kymab’s therapeutic antibody portfolio.

Dr Quaratino was previously a Global Clinical Program Leader at Novartis.

She joins Dr Arndt Schottelius, Kymab’s new Executive VP of R&D, who joined from Morphosys.

Pf GR ADUATE OF THE MONTH In this new series, we feature an outstanding graduate who is making their mark in the industry.

NAME: Jack Porter COMPANY: Roche ROLE: Hospital Sales Specialist UNIVERSITY DEGREE: International Business, 1st class, University of Hertfordshire JACK SAYS: “Roche has given me the perfect platform to accelerate my career. After supporting my development at University with internships in the UK and Canada, Roche then took me on as a Franchise Associate in Haematology in their Welwyn office. This provided insights from across the business including marketing, finance, sales and market access, and within eight months I have now secured a role as a Hospital Sales Specialist.”

JEZ MOULDING

UDG Healthcare and Ashfield has appointed Jez Moulding as Chief Operating Officer of UDG Healthcare plc and Executive Vice President of Ashfield.

Jez has held senior pharma positions all over the world.

WHO’S GOING WHERE AND WHY THEY’RE GOING THERE. WORDS BY

Rachel Cresswell

2 8 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K

KNOW A RISING STAR WHO DESERVES A MENTION? RACHEL@PHARMAFIELD.CO.UK

ANDY FARRANT

Andy Farrant has been appointed UK Managing Director of Ethypharm. He brings over 25 years of commercial experience in the pharmaceutical industry to the role, most recently serving as Managing Director of DB Ashbourne Ltd. “It is an exciting time for our business, as Martindale and Ethypharm come together to focus on best in class product development, manufacturing and commercialising a range of affordable medicines,” reflected Andy.

LET YOUR

CAREER

BLOOM with PharmaJobs.

ANDY WAITON

TFS has appointed Andy Waiton as Director – Marketing and Communications. Andy has spent the past 28 years working in the pharma, medical device and service sectors in a range of sales, sales management and marketing roles. Prior to joining TFS he was Marketing Director at Excel Communications, a global leadership and communication skills training company.

IN BRIEF

BHAVESH ASHAR

Bayer has announced Bhavesh Ashar as Senior Vice President and Head of Oncology for the company’s Pharmaceuticals Division in the United States. Previously, Ashar served as Vice President at Sanofi.

“Oncology is a critical growth driver for Bayer and I am excited to help the company realise the full potential of its diverse cancer portfolio,” said Bhavesh.

Perrigo has announced two new independent directors, ROLF A. CLASSON and ADRIANA KARABOUTIS .

LANCE MCCARTY has been

appointed CEO of Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow.

All the best jobs and recruiters in one place.

Find your next role, get career advice and gain industry insights.

Branch out today!

OLLIE HUNT has been appointed

Global Marketing Director of Novo Nordisk.

PHARMA JOBS.CO.UK Sandoz UK has appointed TIM DE GAVRE as Country Head UK. Cello Health Insight US has announced KATHRYN GALLANT as new CEO of Cello Health Insight US and ANGIE WHEELER as President of Cello Health Insight.

W H E R E TA L E N T G R O W S

M AG A ZI N E | J U N E 2017 | 2 9

What do you do? I joined Consilient Health in January 2017 as the UK Country Manager for the pharmaceutical business.

I am responsible for leading the brand business in the UK, ensuring that we achieve our ambitions and deliver value to our customers, partners and shareholders.

How did your path to pharma begin and how did you get to where you are today? I found my way to my current role through a combination of hard work, opportunities and working with some fantastic high-performing teams! I started in the pharmaceutical industry in 1991, with roles in sales, training and marketing, and eventually became Director of Sales and Director of Strategic Planning & Business Development for a top 10 pharma company.

I have also worked for an agency specialising

Consilient Health’s Amanda Paxon on change, agility and choosing your attitude.

INTERVIEW BY

Amy Schofield

in market access and business excellence, and as a non-executive director for a supplier of data to the NHS and industry.

What aspect of your role are you most passionate about? I feel very passionately about bringing medicines to market which make a difference to the lives of patients, carers and families. The NHS doesn’t always see the value that innovative medicines can bring to patients and that’s where we can help.

Which character traits and talents have you found to be instrumental to your success? To be successful in the current environment it is important to be optimistic, agile and a great team player. The best thing about being an optimist is that you see failure as a new start – when things go wrong this is often the beginning of something great. We all know that change is not only a constant; the rate and pace of change is increasing so agility, and the ability to spot business opportunities and quickly capitalise on them is more important than ever before. I have been privileged to work with some fantastic teams who have achieved extraordinary things, and being able to work as part of a team is fundamental to how we do business today.

What’s the best piece of careers advice you’ve ever been given? Choose your attitude! There are many things that you can’t choose or change, but you can always choose your attitude and how you respond to circumstances around you.

How is Consilient Health embracing the growth of digital for future success?

Consilient Health embraces innovation, in all its forms, to satisfy patient, customer and NHS needs. We have invested in key components for digital success, delivering more personalised patient care and engaging more fully with physicians and patients.

We believe that digital marketing is most successful when it is fully integrated with a truly customer and patient-centric approach that ultimately delivers value for the NHS.

3 0 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K

P H A R M ATA L E N T

How is Consilient Health preparing for exiting the EU? As far as Consilient Health is concerned, nobody exactly knows what the consequences of the Brexit decision are. There is a two-year transition period which has just started, so there will be time to understand what the implications are. It is important for the Department of Health to understand the needs of the pharmaceutical industry and to work together in achieving the best outcomes possible. There will no doubt be changes, but at the end of the day, Consilient Health is commercially astute, nimble and confident that we will adapt to whatever the future brings.

We will continue to provide a valuable service to the UK, as witnessed by our sales and profit success.

What advice would you give to someone entering the pharma sales industry now? The pharmaceutical industry is a terrific place to work and is full of opportunities. Choose the company that you work for wisely, one with the means to invest, ambitions for growth and a culture which values people, demonstrates trust and takes pride in what they do. Look forward to the different opportunities and variety that the changing world will bring. Focus on what matters and choose your attitude.

What does your professional future look like? The future looks bright! I am privileged to be working for an ambitious company with a strong portfolio, an exciting new brand to launch and high aspirations for the future.

Go to consilienthealth.com

“I have been privileged to work with some fantastic teams who have achieved extraordinary things”

Star’s recruiting a nationwide KAM Team for Consilient Health’s new product launch!

Call 01628 581 240 to find out more.

M AG A ZI N E | J U N E 2017 | 3 1

O N YOU R R A DA R

BAC K T WE ET THE WORD ON CYBER STREET S O M E T H I N G TO S AY ? @Pharmafield

Events4Healthcare @events4health

A P P R OV E D M E D I C I N E of the M O N T H

The last 10 years have gone so fast.

Thank you to everybody who has been a part of it #HappyBdayE4H

Glecaprevir/pibrentasvir M A D E BY: AbbVie. Glecaprevir/ pibrentasvir has been granted a positive scientific opinion by the MHRA through the Early Access to Medicines Scheme.

“AbbVie is committed to helping eliminate HCV and ensuring that eligible patients gain access to this therapy,” enthused AbbVie’s Dr Alice Butler.

Diabetes.co.uk @Diabetescouk

Most of us enjoy a coffee to start the morning, but are you aware of how it can affect your #BG levels? #diabetes NovaBiotics Ltd @NovaBiotics

Superbugs kill the equivalent of a full Boeing 747 in Europe every week #superbugs BritFertSoc @BritFert

@Telegraph story on Natural Cycles app – http://ow.ly/4VU8308POJp @BalenAdam quoted and @FSRH_UK quoted @MMA @MMAnalytics

When it comes to pharma marketing, it’s all about changing behaviours.

The Royal Family @RoyalFamily

Congratulations #TeamHeadsTogether on making the 2017 @LondonMarathon the Mental Health Marathon #LondonMarathon NHS Luton CCG @NHS_LCCG

Dr Nina Pearson: Patient experience shows why we need to integrate health and social care to make sure all patient needs are met. #YourNHS New Scientist @newscientist

The energy generators inside our cells reach a sizzling 50°C Therapin.healthcare @Therapinhealth

Momentous UK trial to explore statin for MS #pharma #biotech #bigpharma #medtech

3 2 | PH A R M A FI EL D.CO.U K

AOB VIKING SITE

I, DOCTOR

The number of rare disease websites is increasing, helping patients whose illnesses are not highlighted in the media to feel less alienated. Dupuytren’s contracture – also known as ‘Viking Disease’ – is defined by fingers that rigidly bend inwards towards the palms. Among those living with this difficult condition are ex-England cricketer Jonathan Agnew and actor Bill Nighy. The new domain is thisisdupuytrens.com

Health tech firm Babylon is having its artificial intelligence app trialled by people using NHS services in London, with a view to creating a highly-sophisticated AI healthcare solution. Rather than using the 111 service, patients text details of their symptoms and receive advice in return. If needed, there is also the option to have a video exchange with a real doctor. The technology could alleviate pressure on GPs.

HEALTH WATCH Undeterred by the failure of its Apple Watch, tech giant Apple is preparing to reposition itself in the health self-management sector, by installing a blood sugar sensor in future versions of the watch. Development at a secret location in San Francesco is said to be advancing quickly, although progress may be stalled by the difficult FDA approval process.

Nevertheless, the world’s 370m diabetics will be cautiously optimistic (as will Apple – that’s a lot of watches).

SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE ON OUR R ADAR? R ACHEL@PHARMAFIELD.CO.UK