Read the Conversation
EF: What is the importance of your role and operations in South Africa for Amgen Global?
MN: At Amgen, our mission is to serve patients and we fight the world's toughest diseases. This compels us to establish a robust geographical footprint. We focus on areas where we can have a deep impact at scale and aim to address critical unmet medical needs.
I lead Amgen's operations in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, which includes 5 clusters and approximately 17 countries spanning two continents.
Despite its seemingly modest size in the global pharma market, the MEA region has a staggering population of around 1.3 billion people. However, pharmaceutical companies only reach around 450 million of those, so there is a significant gap and a bigger potential.
At Amgen, removing barriers that limit equitable access to healthcare by working to make our medicines available to more patients is of utmost priority. We address this by partnering with both private and government healthcare agencies to drive their healthcare agendas about access to medicine forward. We also focus on scientific education to ensure that healthcare professionals are abreast of the latest scientific advancements and are well-informed about global guidelines.
South Africa is a key country for us, as it is quite a diverse country with a diverse population and an established private healthcare system.
EF: Can you elaborate on your strategic expectations for the collaborative partnership with Aspen and its regional significance?
MN: Our commitment to serving patients drives our business model, which aims to maximize our reach to far more patients in need. Over the past decade, we have established a direct presence in South Africa, striving to reach as many patients as possible within its healthcare system, encompassing private and public insurance.
It was the right time for us to expand further in South Africa with the potential for wider geographical expansion into more African markets. To achieve those objectives, we sought out potential partnerships. After careful consideration, Aspen emerged as the right ally for several reasons.
Aspen boasts a strong presence in South Africa, successfully serving both private and public sectors. Furthermore, their reach extends to sub-Saharan Africa. Importantly, Aspen upholds the highest compliance and ethical standards, aligning with our unwavering commitment to doing the right thing. Additionally, we discovered a shared passion and relentless drive to reach patients in Africa.
Considering these four factors, we determined that this partnership would bring significant value to patients.
EF: What specific opportunities have you identified within your region?
MN: Africa is brimming with opportunities, so building upon the experiences of other regions and starting from where they have reached will yield a huge positive impact. A tremendous area of opportunity for Africa is to unify medicine approval and registration through the African Medicine Agency (AMA) and harmonise processes to enable access to medicines across the continent.
Another key opportunity is to enhance the supply chain. Securing an effective supply chain for patients, from distributors to pharmacies, is critical. This could lead to unifying regulations that align with broader transportation and supply chain considerations.
It is also important to identify each country's specific needs and try to find common approaches to meet those needs. Prioritizing disease areas with massive disease burdens, such as cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, and nephrology, would lead to significant outcomes. Alongside cancer, cardiovascular diseases, as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, require urgent intervention. LDL-C is a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, so patients' LDL levels should be controlled with a great sense of urgency.
EF: What lessons can be translated from the Middle East to Africa, and do you perceive African governments as open to assimilating knowledge from external sources?
MN: When approaching Africa, a geographically smaller but culturally diverse region, it is important to recognize chronological disparities and variations in progress. The Middle East, which entered the pharmaceutical industry in the 1970s, offers valuable lessons for Africa in streamlining registration processes, optimizing supply chains, and focusing on specific diseases with high disease burden.
In addition, many Middle Eastern countries view healthcare as an investment and a key driver of economic growth, prosperity, and resilience. This mindset allows them to overcome budgetary challenges with agility and partner with different stakeholders to find innovative solutions that enable access to as many patients as possible.
African markets have shown remarkable receptivity to innovation, as seen during the recent COVID-19 vaccine crisis. Rapid distribution strategies demonstrated their potential to address major risks with a high sense of urgency, speed and agility. However, while Africa's prompt crisis responses are commendable, the emphasis must be on the long-term sustainability of initiatives. By integrating knowledge from crises like the recent pandemic or the Ebola outbreak into everyday operations, Africa can advance significant and transformative changes.
EF: What are you most excited about the portfolio Amgen has?
MN: I am excited about all of our medicines today, without exception. Amgen fights the world's toughest diseases and addresses very challenging medical conditions. Seeing the impact of our medicines on patients, their families, and loved ones ignites my team’s and my passion to expand access to our products to patients who need them.
I am equally thrilled about our pipeline and the opportunity Amgen is pursuing to challenge what is seen today as undruggable medical conditions, including rare diseases. Amgen works hard and smart to change conditions like cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, many types of cancer, inflammation, and nephrology. That's very exciting.
EF: Which access initiatives in Africa do you currently engage in, or do you think need to be done?
MN: Our partnership with Aspen and its potential expansion is our main focus at the moment.
In terms of what still needs to be done, I believe the focus should be on where the biggest impact at scale can be made. Given the tremendous impact and disease burden that cardiovascular and kidney diseases have on healthcare systems, the economy, and societies at large in Africa, I believe that exploring opportunities to enhance the lives of patients suffering from these diseases is urgently needed.
There is also a need to establish a comprehensive ecosystem beyond simply administering medicine. This can be done by focusing efforts and forging partnerships with entities such as the World Bank, World Health Organization, or charitable organizations.
For example, in the case of cardiovascular diseases, addressing the issue requires more than pharmaceutical intervention alone. Prediction, prevention, and effective treatment are all key. This necessitates the identification of high-risk patients, effective treatment after a heart attack, collaboration among healthcare providers, the support of laboratories for diagnostic monitoring, as well as patient education. These multifaceted components span different organizations, necessitating partnerships. Amgen has successfully implemented similar initiatives in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.
EF: What advice would you give other CEOs looking to develop a connector leadership style?
MN: I believe that while leadership principles remain relatively consistent, a few key attributes require special attention when operating in the Middle East and Africa.
The first attribute is demystification. It is essential to debunk common misconceptions about this dynamic region. Things tend to move quite fast here, and the unpredictability can be higher. Driven by valid reasons, regulations can and do change quite swiftly. Corporations must gain a deeper understanding of this region to foster a sense of ease and familiarity when conducting business and deciding on investment.
The second attribute is "ex-focus". This term emphasizes the need for leaders to handle multiple competing priorities simultaneously. In the Middle East and Africa, numerous critical matters compete for attention at the same time and can distract or complement objectives. Leaders must effectively navigate between personal involvement and empowering their teams to address these competing priorities, to allow for timely decision-making and effective execution.
The third component is talent selection. Finding, attracting, and retaining the best individuals can be challenging in the Middle East and Africa, as many talented individuals may opt to migrate elsewhere. Planning for potential team member transitions is essential as a leader, ensuring a continuous flow of top talent.
Lastly, it is crucial to maintain a cool and composed demeanor while embracing the enjoyment of the journey. The Middle East and Africa can be overwhelming at times, and maintaining a sense of calmness and simply having fun is necessary to manage effectively.
By incorporating these attributes into leadership approaches, professionals can navigate the unique landscape of the Middle East and Africa with confidence and success.
EF: Considering different countries' diverse needs and priorities, how do you effectively navigate and strike a balance between them?
MN: The key recipe for success is made of two main ingredients, team and processes.
Building a talented, capable team and empowering them is imperative. By entrusting them with responsibilities and decision-making authority, we can effectively manage priorities across multiple countries, extending beyond the 17 we oversee. This approach has proven successful, as our higher-level leaders have successfully managed even larger portfolios to be able to serve even more patients.
Standardizing and streamlining our processes is essential to simplify our work and increase efficiency. As we look ahead, we recognize the potential of technology to drive these improvements. Embracing technology wherever possible allows us to allocate more time to strategic initiatives, fostering stronger relationships and engaging in face-to-face discussions. Personal interaction and brainstorming sessions are critical in driving initiatives forward in Africa. While artificial intelligence has its place, direct human engagement remains crucial for our success. By leveraging technology to automate tasks and streamline processes, we create more space for meaningful, relationship-based endeavors.
EF: Looking back over the past five years, what achievements are you most proud of?
MN: I’m most proud that we were able to double the number of patients we serve in the last five years. We have done so by relentless focus and unwavering commitment to expand our footprint and our products. I’m reminded and inspired that this has not only positively impacted the lives of these patients but their families as well.
I am also tremendously proud of our diverse pool of talent across the region. Amgen's commitment to diversity, inclusion, and belonging is embedded in everything we do, from attracting and developing our talent to ensuring our staff is happy and fulfilled. Our team is comprised of around 24 nationalities from diverse backgrounds, with a high representation of women across the organization. In fact, 40% of my leadership team are women. We have also exported many MEA talents to other roles across the global organization. This genuine interest in people and their individuality has resulted in Amgen MEA affiliates winning multiple accolades like Best Workplace and Great Place To Work, among others.
Additionally, I’m proud of the partnerships we forged with various public and private healthcare entities across the region spanning from innovative access models to patient support programs, continuous scientific education for HCPs, patient awareness activities and many others, with the ultimate goal of serving and reaching more patients.
EF: Do you have any final message for our audience in Africa and the Middle East?
MN: We have recently invited a patient to one of our town halls and seeing the actual impact we have has just reignited my passion and motivation to continue fighting for patients.
I believe the innovative pharma industry has a deep impact on patients’ lives and it’s important to continue fostering partnerships between the healthcare ecosystem and the industry to address unmet medical needs and find solutions to challenges.
It’s imperative to view healthcare as an investment. In fact, medicines are some of the most powerful tools in helping people live healthier, and more productive lives. It is more critical than ever that we continue to invest in effective health systems as a means of future-proofing economic recovery and social stability. When governments choose to invest in healthcare today, it is an investment in a healthier tomorrow.
Finally, I would like to emphasize again the immense potential of unifying registration processes across Africa, which has the power to revolutionize access to medicine and ultimately improve the lives of millions in the continent.
