Read the Conversation
EF: You moved from Chile to Spain during the pandemic; what attracted you to Spain and the Spanish market, and what mission did you set for yourself when you made the move?
NZ: I have always been interested in working in strategic countries and facing new challenges. I could have gone to Canada; leading a European branch was never my objective. My previous experience in the company had been in younger subsidiaries, implementing a start-up model; when the Spanish opportunity arrived, I first thought it was going to be just a management position, more than a transformation of the working model, but we realized together with the local team that we could work in both ways.
EF: Could you share an overview of the dermo-cosmetic landscape in Spain? How does it differ from other markets, and what makes it attractive?
NZ: When we compare the derma-cosmetic and the cosmetic markets, the derma-cosmetic market in Spain is about 11% of the global cosmetic market; in Brazil, for example, the dermo-cosmetic market is 5%. Dermo-cosmetics is not big worldwide, but Spain and France are strong markets. It is a large market with a pharmaceutical line and specialties, but it still has much potential. There is room for improvement in Spain in sunscreen protection, our number one category. In Brazil, people use sunscreen even on a cloudy day; it is part of their daily routine, and awareness is ingrained. Even in Chile, with the hole in the Ozone layer, there was some awareness of the need for protection, although not as high as in Brazil, even in cities such as Sao Paulo. There is huge room for growth in the atopy market because the atopy disorder is still fairly unknown and not immediately identified or diagnosed, and even the patients who suffer from this disease sometimes ignore the symptoms and don´t even go to the doctor’s office to check up. Their quality of life may be seriously affected, and their families suffer the consequences as well of having a member with atopy as they don’t sleep or rest properly, affecting the whole family.
EF: What was your formula for success in Chile? As a representative of a young generation of executives, what is your vision of transitioning from a young to a mature market like Spain?
NZ: It is not about a model but the methodology. In Chile then and now in Spain, I started with cold data analysis of the situation: market share, market trends, the company´s performance, our investments, gross profit, etc. A deep checkup throws clear data on the firm's situation, something that we don’t do daily and when in the middle of running a company. To the cold analysis, we add hot insights; it is a lot of work, and I did this for a whole month when I arrived in Spain with the help of 50 other people in PF. We did a SWOT analysis in order to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the company in Spain. Our employees wrote short summaries on the company and what needed improvement, individually and in groups of ten, which all took a long time to read and analyze. However, it gave me some major aspects that needed improvement and resulted in approximately eight to ten streams for us to work on with the change leaders and include in our strategy to achieve the changes. It was not all easy riding, and there was some resistance as people found change difficult. It takes up a lot of energy to explain why changes are needed, but it has to be done.
Working with a data-driven mindset is the best way to convince people that change is necessary. We used three pillars of data: forecast data (external data, benchmark, etc.) to set the vision; based on that vision, we determine performance data to set our common and individual objectives; and then, to be able to achieve these objectives, we determine key execution indicators (KPIs) which enable us to drive properly execution. The methodology is FPE (forecast performance and execution) and is important because it allows people to understand the changes, why, what, and how. Data-driven decisions allow the company to move ahead with assertiveness.
EF: When facing a transforming market, the variables are speed, price, and quality; which two variables would you choose to execute a transformation?
NZ: I would pick quality alone. The level of quality is our main driver and only goal. To reach this goal of quality, we set plans that, depending on their complexity, will affect other issues, such as price or speed. You may hear an internal voice leading you to decrease your standards, but it’s important to maintain them and reconcile your collaborator’s time and skills to catch up to the required level of quality. Quality, for me, is first and imperative, even if time is the price to pay to achieve it.
EF: Based on data-driven decisions and quality, Pierre Fabre is embracing a new digital era; how do you retain the value of your science-backed treatments in this new digital era of social media-influenced dermatology?
NZ: The digital world is yet another opportunity to communicate our message, although the message can be lost among the many messages delivered. We have designed a specific way to work with influencers, with an academic style, ensuring they get the minimum amount of scientific knowledge in order to ensure an appropriate and credible message. We are very selective about the influencers we work with. Before we present our product, we appeal to health professionals to promote our products for two reasons: i) to maintain the focus on our product DNA and our outlook on health with the health professionals backing, and ii) for the general public to see doctors speaking about the products, which is happening increasingly in Spain. We are not at the level of Brazil yet, where before I left, some doctors had three hundred thousand followers on Instagram. We want to give voice to the healthcare professionals, co-creating and co-communicating together.
EF: Having worked in different markets, what is your pitch to HQ to attract resources to Spain; how do you prove a dollar is better invested in Spain than in other areas?
NZ: Spain is an important subsidiary of the group, both for medical care and for dermo-cosmetics. We are working on reducing fixed costs and increasing our investment capacity, which will allow us to develop new projects that represent the company essence: Skin&Cancer is the perfect example and represents Pierre Fabre’s transversality, offering drugs to treat cancer and dermo-cosmetic products to support skin toxicities due to the oncological treatment.
We work on promotion with people from the dermo-cosmetics area who visit hospitals to inform the nurses of oncology and radiotherapy matters. We have developed a platform for health professionals, oncologists, nurses, dermatologists, and pharmacists who mostly work in silos, and we aim to connect them all to create an empathic environment for the oncological patient. This kind of project makes sense to the company and puts our country as a reference for the rest of the subsidiaries, as a pilot project that can be replicated.
EF: How do you envision the future of oncology and dermatology therapies, and are you especially excited by any product in your pipeline and the impact it might have?
NZ: When PF started in oncology, we concentrated on chemotherapy, but currently, we are very focused on targeted therapies. It is more efficient and less toxic; as a complement to support the oncology treatments, dermo-cosmetics helps people with the toxicity and acceptance of the treatments. PF is globally consolidated in melanoma treatments and advanced in the last year and a half on colon therapies globally, but unfortunately, not in Spain, as we haven’t received the pricing and reimbursement. In Spain, only 58% of the drugs obtain approval, whereas in Germany, the approval rate is around 88%, making it a public health issue. Unfortunately, even within Europe, there are differences in access, which can mean the difference between life and death. And considering cancer is sure to affect one in every three people, it is an issue that should be resolved. We are also looking forward to offering new treatments for lung cancer, as they will be very important not only for us but especially for the patients.
We focus on pathologies affecting many patients and rare diseases that affect only a few, such as posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD). We aim to help maybe 30 people with this affliction in Spain. At PF, we believe if we have helped even one person, we have made the world a better place, which is a very apt belief for rare diseases. We feel a great responsibility to help patients in their afflictions”. Pharma should be able to better explain what we do backstage for the general public, showing that we respond to the need for health solutions. OMS's definition of health says it is not about the absence of pathologies but about well-being, and at PF, we are delighted to say that with our holistic approach, we provide health in its global definition.
