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EF: Can you elaborate on your footprint and how the distribution of your services across your portfolio is balanced?
ER: We have evolved from a Spanish company to a Latin American company based in Spain and are proud of this achievement. Our board of directors comprises over 14 members, most of whom are from Latin America. Icon Group started 10 years ago in Spain. We proliferated in Spain and Portugal, earning recognition from the Financial Times as one of the 1000 fastest-growing companies in Europe.
We started our operations in Colombia in 2017 through a partnership, having identified a company with a business model similar to Icon Group's. We signed an agreement and developed a joint project with one of our top clients, Sanofi. Eventually, we fully integrated the company into Icon Group.
We now have more than 20 subsidiaries in Latin America. We have learned that Spain can serve as an excellent gateway to Latin America and that it's not always necessary to be the market leader before starting international expansion. If you have an innovative offering and your clients and partners value your services, it makes sense to expand and offer the same in other countries. Our business model is exportable. While we sell services rather than physical products, which are harder to replicate, we have successfully exported this service model across Latin America.
EF: What are your current priorities for 2024?
ER: We are now focused on developing and implementing new services to support our clients and add additional value. For example, we are working on outsourcing commercial teams. We have also created a new laboratory called Avanzia Pharma, which operates in Spain, Mexico, Central America, and Colombia. The goal is to offer a broader range of options to our clients.
They need an agreement for us to handle the full distribution of the product, including imports, warehousing, logistics, distribution, and promotion. Avanzia Pharma offers a solution for clients who prefer us to manage the entire portfolio of products that we can commercialize and distribute in these regions. This is a real challenge for us, but we are excited about it as the next step for ICON Group.
EF: As you continue pushing and growing in Latin America, what is the strategic significance of maintaining a presence in Spain?
ER: Spain continues to be an important market for us, ranking as the number one country for our business in terms of revenue. The challenges in this market differ from those in Latin America. We are extracting value for our partners by focusing more on specialized products, orphan drugs, and new technologies, with a strong emphasis on omnichannel strategies and digitalization.
EF: Could you provide further details about digitalization and omnichannel? In what ways do they create value for you and your partners? How are they simplifying processes and improving accessibility for the patients?
ER: We use them to analyze the target, goals, product, and product life cycle. We recommend a mix of these channels for our clients. It's not just about digitalization; it's about omnichannel strategies. For example, with Icon Group, it doesn't matter which channel you use to connect with us; you will receive a coordinated response.
Digitalization can improve the health and quality of life for patients across Latin America. This is important to us and aligns with our mission. Our mission is to enhance the quality of life and health of patients in Latin America, and digitalization is a key tool in achieving this goal.
EF: What is the role of Icon’s research center in Guatemala? How does it foster opinion and change within the organization?
ER: There is a technical revolution with artificial intelligence and new tools that can be applied to healthcare. We have an ecosystem of health tech startups, which is one reason we created the innovation lab. This lab allows some of our team members to focus on discovering valuable innovations that can be applied to Icon Group
If you want to generate innovation and work differently, you need to accept that sometimes you will fail. Failure has never been a major issue for us. We were content with trying new things, and if they didn’t work, we would try something different. This mindset is integral to the way we think and work at Icon Group. Failure is important because it shows that you tried. If you do not try, you never fail or succeed.
EF: What challenges and opportunities can you identify for the Icon Group in 2024?
ER: We are convinced that applying new technologies is crucial for the sustainability of the healthcare system. While this is widely acknowledged, we need less talk and more action. People must start applying these new technologies. Mistakes will be made, but they will help us ensure alignment with compliance. We need to innovate, and this is exactly what we are doing at Icon.
Icon Group created five geographical clusters two years ago. The first is Iberia, which is made up of Spain and Portugal. The second and third are Mexico and Brazil. We also have Central American Caribbean based in Guatemala. Finally, we have the Andean area, which consists of Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Chile. We need to be closer to our clients to help them manage projects internationally in more than 10 countries. Implementing projects country by country is a matter of managing diversity and complexity.
EF: What are you most proud of having achieved over the last 10 years?
ER: We have failed and made many mistakes over the last 10 years. Our journey has not always been about success. A Spanish trait found in the people is that failure is never an option for them. If you want to generate innovation and work differently, you need to accept that sometimes you will fail. Failure was never a big issue for us. We were content with trying out new things. If they did not work, we would try a different thing. This is a way of thinking and working in Icon Group. Failure is important because it shows that you tried. If you do not try, you never fail or succeed.
I am most proud of betting on internationalization from the beginning because we thought that we could add value in more countries by being very close to clients, listening to their needs, and trying to adapt ourselves to them. We developed Avanza because we understood that this was a new need. We are launching a new medical department because more MSL services are being requested than ever. We are listening to our employees, clients, and partners.
EF: Do you have a final message for our readers?
ER: We are convinced that applying new technologies can be critical to help with the sustainability of the healthcare system. This is clear, and everybody talks about it. We need less talk and more action. People must apply the new technology. Mistakes will be made, but they will help us ensure that this aligns with compliance. We need to do different things, and this is what we are doing at Icon.
Another important message is that we have a good opportunity to improve the life, quality of life, and the health of the Latin American patients. Applying technologies and artificial intelligence can have a significant impact at the same cost. Some countries have been doing things well. These include Colombia, Chile, and Mexico. I think Latin America has all the key materials to make a big impact on people's lives and it should go for it.
