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EF: What are STADA's key priorities, and what can we expect from the company in 2024?
MF: STADA has a strong culture that drives performance and focuses on our purpose: "Caring for people's health as a trusted partner." This is based on our four values: integrity, entrepreneurship, agility, and OneSTADA. One of our priorities is to keep boosting our company culture because it drives performance. We have seen this in the evolution of our portfolio. Our growth journey is based on a diversification of three clear pillars. The main pillar in Spain is generics. This has remained consistent throughout history. The second pillar is consumer health. We created this pillar in 2010. The third pillar is specialties, in which we have biosimilars and innovative products. This was created in 2019.
Our priority for 2024 will be to continue enlarging the portfolios of our three pillars. The three are growing nicely, and we will be launching 14 new products next year. We are also aiming to grow our overall market. We have been very active in consumer health acquisitions. This has been the main accelerator of our portfolio and ranking in consumer health, and we will continue to see this. In a few months, we will introduce the last acquisition of Sanofi, which is one of our two brands in Spain.
We are also aiming for big growth in the specialties market. We launched our first biosimilar, and it will be followed by a second and a third. We aim to keep expanding our biosimilar footprint next year. Under the specialties pillar, we have important products for the treatment of severe Parkinson's disease.
Finally, we are also dealing with the price and reimbursement of the company’s first orphan drug for adults with primary immunoglobulin IgA nephropathy. We are evolving from a classical generic company and have diversified into consumer health and specialties.
Our company also focuses on important topics such as ESG, and in 2022, we published our first global sustainability report. We disclosed our goals for 2030, which included a reduction of our carbon footprint by 42 percent. We are happy to share that, as of 2022, we have already reduced that number by 16 percent. STADA Spain was the first company to join the Lean and Green Project, which also aims to reduce carbon emissions in logistics processes. I think this could be the priority. We will keep enlarging our portfolio and have a special focus on ESG.
EF: How would you describe Spain's strategic significance and importance for your company?
MF: I think we are in the top ten countries, with Spain ranking sixth. We are a growing company. Our market also has growth opportunities in generics. STADA is the first multinational company in Spain to focus on generics. This has allowed for the rapid introduction of consumer health products and specialties. Spain is a key market, and that is why we are investing in new sales forces and acquisitions. Spain is a big market with an aging population. These factors are accelerating the growth of the market.
EF: STADA’s CEO Peter Goldschmidt recently spoke about the need for the Spanish government to promote the growth of generics in Spain. How can policy be shaped to grow generics, and how can we encourage the growth of the generic market?
MF: Last year, STADA celebrated its 25th anniversary in Spain. The market is evolving. Spain has a generic introduction of 40 percent market share in units, which is far below the average of Europe, which has 65 percent market share in units. In the last 25 years, we have gone through three different phases. The first one was the normal introduction of new medicine, in which the first eight years were dedicated to training all stakeholders. We then went through 10 years of strong growth. We had incentives like price differences between the generic and the originator. We had a strong compulsory INN prescription by doctors and a preference for INN prescription by doctors over generics. Within these 10 years, there were a lot of patent expirations for blockbusters. We grew a lot and achieved this 40 percent market share.
In the last eight years, starting in 2015, there have been a lot of political and legal changes. Many incentive measures were withdrawn, and this is the situation in which we live right now. Growth in genetic penetration has been flat since 2015. The Spanish market is currently the only one in Europe where generics have the same price as original brands. This makes it difficult to introduce new products. There was a rapid introduction of generics in the past, but today, generics barely get 10 percent of the market within the first 12 years. We need to keep investing in the Spanish generic market. It is important for sustainability. Spain has 20 manufacturing sites for generics. It has industrial power, and this is important for the country.
Seven out of ten generics in the Spanish market are produced in Spain. We need this guarantee of supply because there is a very important production network in the country. I think we have one challenge: we need to recover these incentive measures because, at the end of the day, the generic market needs volume.
Over the last few years, we have gone through pandemics and inflation. The price of generics is regulated and remains quite low. The industry is making tremendous efforts to keep supplying medicines when 50 percent of the total units in Spain have a price lower than two euros. We are asking the authorities to help us with a price increase to partially compensate for the impact of the increase in the cost of goods, transport, electricity, and so on. We are in a challenging time. There is currently no government, and we hope it will be created soon.
We have had a lot of dialogue with the association and the authorities. We are now in the second semester, and Spain has assumed the European Council presidency. We have been working with multiple ministers in the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Tax, and Pharma Industry to try to build a strategic plan to boost the pharmaceutical industry. I hope that, once the government is formed and we recover, we can see some of these initiatives fully implemented because all the segments are complementary.
The association has done a lot of studies to document our progress properly. Dialogue with stakeholders is very good. We share the same diagnostic and know which measures should be activated when possible and when legislation allows us to do so. We see an opportunity because the generic market in Spain is only at 40 market shares per unit. We aim to raise it until it reaches 60 percent. Spain provides this opportunity, but we need some measures to make it happen.
EF: The name of our project is "A road map to sustainable healthcare." What are the three most important pillars that would create a prosperous and sustainable healthcare system for Spain?
MF: I think the pharmaceutical sector needs to find a way to recover volume in generics. We need to recover some of the measures that we had in the past. We need price differences between generics and originals, priority in new launches, and an increase in prescriptions, which is what the WHO also recommends.
Consumer health can be the second pillar because it contributes when we work on prevention projects and the sustainability of the system. Sometimes, there is a lack of awareness. For example, the STADA health report highlights the health status and evolution of 16 European countries, and 32,000 people participated in our study. Our major takeaway from this report was that a lack of prevention measures was eroding the European health system. Prevention will contribute to a more sustainable system. Finally, we need access to innovation like orphan drugs. This will also help to contribute to a more sustainable system.
EF: How do you attract and retain the best talent in the country?
MF: Our company culture helps us attract the best talent. If a company wants to maintain sustainable growth, it must incorporate new talent to attend to new projects, categories, and specialties. Talent acquisition is a constant balancing act.
The last five years at STADA are proof of the importance of finding the right talent. We have made a lot of investments and acquisitions and have seen double-digit growth in the company. Our teams are growing, and if you want to be in a high-energy, high-speed growth company, STADA is a good place. Everyone wants to be in a company that is focused on growth, ESG, and digitalization. We are a company that has a lot of good stories, and this attracts talent. As we care for people's health, we also need to care for our employees' health and try to attract the best talent in the market. We will face new challenges and need to find a good formula to attract them.
EF: You have been the general manager of STADA Spain for 10 years. Looking back at those 10 years, what achievements are you most proud of, and how do you look forward to the next 10 years?
MF: I think one of the biggest achievements I've seen over the last decade is our company's diversification. Ten years ago, we were essentially a generics company. We now have three segments: 63 percent generics, 23 percent consumer health, and 12 percent specialties. I think STADA has become a stronger company. It has grown a lot in sales, people, and new talent.
Secondly, I would like to celebrate the strong values we have cultivated over the last six years. We live by these values, and you can see them in all our people at STADA. We have done excellent work in terms of company culture, purpose, and values. We have dedicated a lot of time and effort to achieve this. I'm proud of the company's diversification, culture, and values. When a company's values match your values, a sort of magical thing happens. You feel more engaged.
EF: Is there any final message that you would like to share from your experience about where the future of generics needs to go?
MF: Although there are challenges and uncertainty in the generics market, there are a lot of opportunities. We are privileged to work in the health sector and see the real impact of our actions on the population. I think this is a reason to keep working, challenging, and embracing the uncertainty because I think we are in a good position. I feel proud to be in the health sector and for the impact that I have made.
