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EF: Could you tell us about the strategic decision behind spinning off into a separate consumer health company?
DF: We need to go back in time a few years to the announcement of the joint venture in the consumer space between GSK and Pfizer in 2019. At the same time, we announced our intention to separate GSK into two companies, with one focused on the pharma industry and vaccines and the other on consumer healthcare. Haleon was the company formed to focus on the latter. The demerger of GSK was completed last year, but the seeds were planted in 2019, and we took great care to execute it.
The strategic ambition and idea were to make sure that the two parts could become leading companies in their own spaces. Although the needs of patients and consumers are similar across the industry, there are different kinds of parts, stakeholders, and agendas. This demerger has been beneficial to both entities as they can focus solely on their own markets.
Haleon was created in July 2022 as a spinoff from GSK, listed in the UK. We are a startup that started big. We started with 22,000 employees and a direct presence in more than 100 countries. GSK brands provided us with continuity, and our relationship with our consumers is based on the continuity of the brands we inherited. There was no disruption to consumers. Things are now different in the organizational structure. In the initial phase of the spin-off, we tried to maintain the existing structure, but we reorganized ourselves towards a new competitive set to be more like a FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) industry. Our goal is to be more in line with consumer healthcare while also protecting our DNA and focusing on science. We have created a path that many other companies have followed, as seen in Sanofi and Johnson & Johnson's new thinking. We have opened the doors, and more companies are following.
EF: What is the strategic significance of the Spanish market for Haleon as a global company?
DF: We have an important footprint in three regions. We have operations in America, EMAR, and Asia-Pacific. Europe is still an important market for us in terms of the consumers we are able to reach and the technology we are generating. Spain plays an important role as part of the European Union. It plays a significant role in terms of sales and its ability to influence EU policies. This is important for us and the industry. We have commercial offices and a factory in Spain. We are also supporting and contributing to the activities in Spain.
We operate as a multinational company and work closely with colleagues in other countries. We are part of the Southern Europe cluster with Italy and Portugal, where we have a powerful voice and influence. Although Haleon is a global company with global brands, there is a need to understand local trends. There is a top-down dialogue on how we can better influence global strategy or global execution. Good practices and talent can be imported from or exported to friends.
EF: We are interested in the “Made in Spain” brand. Why is Spain such a good place for manufacturing and exporting? Secondly, could you also tell us about your sustainability plans?
DF: Spain has a good combination of talents. We have some of the best talent in the scientific fields. Spain is a stable country with progressive legislative provisions. It is a mature and stable member of the European Community and its network. Investing in Spain is easy in the sense that it has the capabilities and the environment that can support this kind of investment.
In our case, investing in Span was a long-term decision. In 2022 we celebrated the 50th anniversary of our Alcala site. We have decided to invest more in Spain by doubling the capacity of production in the next year. Our strategy is to have a network of factories. We do not produce everything internally. There is a strategic decision on what brands are produced and where, and there is also a network of CMOs for flexibility and speedy decision-making in the market. We have a network in which each factory is specialized in something. For example, the Alcalá factory specialises in the respiratory area, with products focused on colds & flu and allergies that are distributed to many countries.
More than 95 percent of what is produced in Spain is not for Spain; it is for other countries. We have a strong export business and send most of our products to the biggest markets, such as the UK and Russia. This is evidence that we can produce something that makes sense for ourselves and others.
With regard to sustainability, Haleon's long-term vision is to deliver better health every day for humanity. We want to put humans at the center of what we do. We do not want to see patients; we want to see people. People have unmet needs that we can understand and support. We cannot take care of people if we do not take care of the environment or the planet. There is a correlation between health and the environment.
Health is about good health and living in a clean environment. We want to take care of the planet and are on this journey to support our sustainability agenda. The Alcala site will be the first one globally to reach the standard zero carbon footprint. We accelerated the ambition that we had for the company. The ambition that we generally have is to reduce all the scope-one and scope-two carbon emissions by 2030. We are on the right path and doing well.
EF: What is the importance of promoting self-care initiatives, and what kind of initiatives do you have in Spain?
DF: Self-care initiatives are important globally. If we do not promote self-care, the health system will collapse. Self-care is the only way to support the standard of living and the standard of healthcare that we are currently enjoying. The system cannot support everyone if we do not move towards self-care. Spain and other European countries are facing a lot of pressure on their healthcare systems because of the costs of the system. We are dedicating the majority of the resources—around 97 percent in Europe—to treating existing ailments. Only three percent of spending is going to prevention. However, there are several studies that confirm that 80% of heart disease, stroke and diabetes and 40% of cancers could be avoided with appropriate preventive measures. This creates a strange dichotomy. A lot of diseases are preventable, but we are not investing accordingly.
General practitioners are usually the first line of defense in the healthcare system. The majority of their time is dedicated to needs that, in theory, people with the right education can take care of, either directly themselves or with the support of other figures in the care system, like pharmacists. Their needs can be managed in a much more cost-efficient way for the system. We can redirect resources to these types of interventions and allow doctors to intervene in more serious pathologies that need their expertise.
There is also a lack of doctors, especially when you look at the number of doctors we have today compared with the population's needs. Spain and Europe are facing an aging population, which is leading to an increase in chronic diseases. The majority of old people have two or more chronic diseases. The system is facing more pressure due to the aging population. Self-care can be a solution to help ease this pressure.
There are barriers to self-care. Self-care requires many things to be boosted. Without self-care, we will need about 120,000 more doctors in Europe. Education is one of the core components needed to support self-care. Education of users and consumers is required to better understand what is good for them, what they should do in terms of prevention, and what they should do to take care of any need they may have. We also need education for the current doctors. There is not enough discussion of self-care at the university. There is no dedicated time to discuss what must be done in order to support the population and better educate them in order for them to take care of themselves.
There is a lot of information available today for everyone. Anything can be found on the internet. However, it is difficult to navigate the abundant information, and some of it is inaccurate. Helping people navigate this space is not easy. Eighty percent of Europeans declared that they were willing to take care of themselves. They want to better manage their health.
Everyone has a role to play. This includes the user, the patient, the industry, doctors, pharmacists, and politicians. We need to have an environment that can support this kind of agenda. It is not easy for those in power because the benefit of this kind of action is only seen in the long term. You see the spending now, but the benefit will come much later. There is massive pressure on politicians to take care of the budget now. We need to have a social path across all these different actors to understand what we can do.
EF: Could you talk to us a little bit about collaboration? How do you use common spaces to push the industry forward and shape policy?
DF: We are part of ANEPF, and we recently started a dialogue on what we need to do. We can create a solution to support self-care, and we can promote our solution directly to consumers and pharmacies. We also need to help all the stakeholders understand the value that self-care can provide. We recently hosted a conference with the European Parliament. We created a white paper to identify the benefits that self-care can provide, and we presented it in Spain and the European Parliament. We need to talk about the numbers. We need to show the data and facts that highlight the importance of self-care.
Pharmacists are key players in self-care. They have the knowledge; they are health experts. They are also more widely spread across the country, so everyone can easily access them. We need to work with them and continue on this path. ANEPF and the industry are working to showcase the importance of self-care, and we are in a good spot.
The pandemic changed a lot of things. For the first time in history, we gave people the responsibility and ability to understand if they had a pathology or not. They were able to follow simple home tests. The pandemic forced us to rethink how we wanted to address health. We decided that everyone had to take care of themselves and the people around them. We now have evidence that self-care can work if we give people more power and education. The pandemic showed that if you educate people, you can achieve amazing results.
All the information is now there; we just need to make it accessible and easy to navigate. We need to help older people take advantage of this digital revolution in a way that they understand without creating digital barriers. We also need to ensure that the information is reliable and trustworthy. ANEPF is doing a good job of filtering information. We self-regulate and ensure that all the information we disseminate is accurate and reliable. Good regulations will also help in making sure people get the best information.
EF: How does Haleon attract and retain the best talent in such a competitive market?
DF: It is definitely not easy. Our plan for Spain is focused on the long term. We want to be the consumer's first choice. That means we want to support our consumers with our products, and we want to provide value for healthcare professionals. We want also to be the first choice for people internally. We want people to love being here.
Attracting talent is complex, especially for a company that does not have a well-known name. We are creating the Haleon brand, but many people still don't know what Haleon stands for. We are fortunate that we have brands that are already quite established. Our brands, presence, and footprint indicate that we want to attract talent that is in line with our values.
We are in a very good position for talent because we are industry leaders with amazing brands that support consumer needs. Depending on your values and personal behavior, it is great to be in a company that can do good for the world and values its employees. You would be proud to be part of this company. Our company is still on a discovery journey. We have established processes and cannot disrupt them because of our responsibility to our shareholders, but still, we have the opportunity to rethink our way of working. We need to think about how we can challenge the status quo and how we can be faster and closer to our mission. We need to determine how we can get closer to consumers and better understand them.
We are in an industry that is growing. Healthcare is an industry that is more and more in demand, and it will be even more important in the future. This is the right company to join if you want to be in it for the long term. Our brands allow our employees to connect with others and attract talent that wants to be associated with them.
Our company is new, but our human resources policies are very flexible. We currently operate a balanced 60/40 flex-work schedule. Our employees are allowed to work from home for two days. They can choose the days they want. Furthermore, we have flexible hours. Our people can choose whether they work in the morning or the evening. This helps them better manage their work-life balance.
Haleon is an inclusive company that accommodates inclusiveness from different kinds of angles. Inclusivity means avoiding discrimination and differentiation. We have a clear ambition and target to ensure equal opportunity for females and males. We offer six months of maternity and paternity leave, fully paid, across the globe. This benefit is also offered in the case of adoption. This is a great example of equality, and people love it.
We also established a caregiving policy allowing employees to care for their relatives. We offer one-month leave, fully paid, to enable our employees to go care for their relatives if there is a need. This is an investment for the company, as it allows us to retain and attract the best talent. These policies also give our employees a good family-work balance and sustain good mental health.
EF: The report that we are publishing is called "The Roadmap to Sustainable Healthcare." What would your three main pillars be if you had to create your own roadmap that leads to a sustainable and prosperous Spanish healthcare sector?
DF: I would work on changing the system. We need a balanced system that empowers the people. Self-care would play an important role. We would dedicate the right resources to prevention and education to manage problems at an early stage. We would create a system where all the stakeholders and parts have a clear common agenda in which everyone plays a role.
Sustainable healthcare is at the forefront of Haleon's agenda. We want to be an active part of the solution. We want to provide a solution for our consumers, the environment, and the system to support the overall healthcare agenda.
I hope that environmental sustainability issues will be a thing of the past in the future. Environmental sustainability will give us a competitive advantage and should be embedded in every company. Sustainability also means that we create value, and I believe that companies that survive in the long term are those that create value for all their stakeholders. We want to create value for our shareholders, customers, and care professionals. We want to be seen as a supplier of solutions. I truly believe in the social responsibility of companies. We are in a space that emphasizes this responsibility and plays a role in our social agenda.
EF: Do you have a final message for our readers?
DF: We must put people first when we discuss healthcare. Self-care needs to be elevated to the healthcare agenda. This is the most important strategic mission that we have. We are part of the system, and if we are able to support that, everyone will benefit.
