Read the Conversation
Conversation highlights:
- Mission at UCB Mexico centered on three pillars: happy and fulfilled people, ethical leadership, and market leadership in neurology and immunology, two areas with significant unmet medical needs.
- Reflection on UCB’s recent growth phase, with new product launches and an expanding pipeline, alongside post-COVID progress in Mexico with better access to innovative therapies, including gene therapies and monoclonal antibodies.
- Discussion on the industry’s shared objective of ensuring that innovative medicines are not only approved and reimbursed but also reach more patients, supported by digital tools, electronic records, and AI across the healthcare system.
- Mexico is a large, diverse, and strategic healthcare market, combining a fast-moving private sector with a public agenda that places healthcare and expanded coverage as national priorities.
- The “company of the future” builds on curious, collaborative people with strong values and learning agility.
- Investing in health is a virtuous cycle: Each dollar invested in healthcare benefits both families and the whole nation.
EF: What was the mission you were given when you were appointed?
RL: In my first conversation with my manager, he highlighted a straightforward mission with three goals: To make people at UCB Mexico feel fulfilled, lead ethically, and become market leaders in our two core disease areas, immunology and neurology.
EF: Why did you choose UCB as the right company for you to evolve in your career?
RL: First, it was the opportunity to become general manager. I started in this business many years ago as a sales representative, which is when I realized the significant impact the pharmaceutical industry can have on people’s health. At that time, my impact was limited to a single product and one region in my country, but I understood that if I moved up the ladder, took on new roles and more responsibility, that impact could grow.
I found a very interesting opportunity at UCB. The company is expanding quickly as we bring new medications to the market after a long period without launches. We are now seeing the results of past investments, including acquisitions and R&D, and a strong pipeline is being built and brought to market.
The two disease areas we focus on, immunology and neurology, are also key for me. Neurology has many unmet medical needs, as we see in diseases like Alzheimer’s, where even with innovation, large gaps remain. Immunology holds deep personal significance because both of my parents have autoimmune diseases. Supporting them has given me firsthand insight into the challenges patients and families face.
When UCB approached me, I already knew the portfolio and pipeline, and the results of the new product in immunology felt like another opportunity to contribute to families living with autoimmune conditions. Coupled with the chance to become a general manager, it was the perfect combination, and I decided to join the company last January.
EF: What successes can you pick from Mexico’s Life Sciences in the last ten years, and what objectives should we have together as an industry in the next five years?
RL: In recent years, there has been greater access to innovation in Mexico, especially in the public healthcare system after COVID. Ten years ago, many new medications were not available in the country; today, we have gene therapies and a wide range of monoclonal antibodies for oncology and autoimmune diseases. The pandemic also demonstrated the value of scientific progress, as vaccines and medical research played a central role in helping us overcome it. That is a major win we should not take for granted.
One challenge we need to address with government authorities and the entire healthcare system is to expand healthcare coverage to all Mexicans and all people living in Mexico. New medications must be approved, reimbursed, and made accessible to a wider population.
Another challenge is how to bring new technology into the healthcare system. That includes digital tools, electronic medical records, big data, and decision-making supported by that data. For this to happen, we need technology in place, such as electronic health records, and capture the potential of AI in healthcare. Innovation only works if patients can benefit from it. If people cannot access medicines, or if they cannot be diagnosed in time to receive the right treatment, the system falls short.
Tools such as AI, telemedicine, and digital diagnostics are already used worldwide and could help speed up and improve diagnosis in Mexico. The technology exists; what we need now is faster adoption.
EF: What kind of people are you looking at for UCB Mexico when it comes to shaping the company of the future? What profile and skills do they need?
RL: At UCB, we want to attract people who share our values and purpose. We keep patients at the center. We try to understand their needs not only from a scientific perspective but from a human one. That is the company's main purpose: we believe people deserve to live their lives to the fullest.
In terms of other values, we look for collaboration. We want people who are curious and have strong learning abilities, so we can figure out how to address the challenges we face in healthcare. That applies to every position in the company, from scientists who study diseases and test new hypotheses to affiliates, managers, and field personnel. Those values, skills, learning agility, and curiosity are very important to us.
I have always liked working with people who have strong strategic thinking. With the many challenges in healthcare and the barriers patients face throughout the patient journey, I look for people who understand these challenges and can create plans or strategies to remove them. They need the capacity to come up with creative ideas that can be discussed, for example, with government healthcare officers and potentially co-create solutions with them. Strategic thinking, understanding of the patient journey, creativity, and the ability to work with external stakeholders are key competencies for us.
We also understand that we live in a very diverse world, and we want our workforce to reflect that diversity. We are open to people with very different ways of thinking. At UCB, you can find people of various ages. We have very young people and more senior, experienced people, and the perspectives of all of them are valuable. Younger people are often better able to understand technology and AI because they were born in this era. Senior people bring experience from their careers in pharma and a deep understanding of how payers and physicians make decisions. When you combine that experience with knowledge of technology, you can have very interesting outcomes. Our workforce composition reflects our belief in diverse thinking, perspectives, and ways of working, and encourages a sense of belonging and shared purpose.
EF: When you are trying to pitch investment or attract resources to Mexico, why would one dollar invested in Mexico be better than investing anywhere else?
RL: Mexico is a very important market for many industries. The first reason is the country’s population of approximately 130 million. In terms of market volume, we are a large market with diverse disease areas. Mexico is now the thirteenth-largest economy in the world, which makes it an attractive country for investment. We also have a very fast private market where new technologies and medicines are adopted quickly. The challenge is that the private market is small compared to the rest of the country, but it still adopts new medical technologies at a high speed. Recognizing this potential can inspire confidence in our ability to contribute meaningfully to Mexico’s healthcare growth.
On the public side, there is strong potential because the government wants to extend coverage to all Mexicans and has healthcare high on the agenda.
What I always tell my colleagues in headquarters is that there is an important opportunity for us, as a private industry and as UCB, to collaborate with healthcare officers and bring new ideas to improve patient care through investment in science, education, and diagnostics. Authorities are open to listening, understanding our needs, and maintaining a constructive dialogue, which is not always the case in other countries. This openness creates opportunities to work together and improve conditions for Mexican patients.
EF: Where do you see growth, and what is the attention we need to bring to diagnostics? What are the opportunities out there?
RL: In Mexico, we see significant delays in diagnosing many diseases, which creates an important opportunity to collaborate with the healthcare system. Diagnosis requires more infrastructure, but also more specialists who can read and interpret the tests. Technology can help in a very meaningful way, especially AI. In medicine, AI is already used in early research and development, clinical trials, and hypothesis testing. In diagnosis, the clearest opportunity is in any test that includes an image.
For example, in neurology, one of our key disease areas, many conditions are diagnosed using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and this is where AI can add real value. AI tools can compare MRI or ultrasound images against large databases of labeled images and flag those with a higher likelihood of disease. The physician or radiologist still makes the final diagnosis, but if a radiologist has to read 100 MRIs a day, AI can help prioritize the riskiest cases and guide their focus. The technology already exists; the next step is broader adoption in clinical practice.
EF: Do you have any final message or another topic you would like to touch on?
RL: In all countries, investing in healthcare is challenging because resources are limited, but we must understand that it is not an expense. Many studies show that investing in healthcare has a positive impact on the economy. A healthy population contributes more to the economy, consequently to GDP, and creates more value. It becomes a virtuous cycle because healthy people need less medical attention, stay productive, and generate more wealth for the country. Each dollar invested in healthcare benefits families and the whole nation.
