Read the Conversation
EF: What will 2022 be the year of?
RR: A shift occurred in the pharma industry, which brought on the need for resilience. Stakeholders in the market changed. To appeal to the new stakeholders, we became innovative and creative. Our interactions have changed, and we have become more resilient. The relationships and interactions we are building with patients are more authentic. Everything has changed in our channels, from stakeholders to interactions with governments and accessibility. Pharmaceutical companies have planned and strategized for this new reality.
EF: What is the strategic importance of the foothold you have in Brazil, and what was the mission you were given when appointed during the pandemic?
RR: My mission when appointed was to consolidate Teva in the market, and to expand its footprint in a more innovative approach. We have a specialized portfolio focusing on hospitals, oncology, the nervous system, and rare diseases in Brazil. Our footprint is increasing in healthcare areas we want to collaborate. An example of specialized areas we are focusing on is oncology therapies as well as we´re now launching a rare disease drug for Huntington's Disease and Tardive Dyskinesia. As a manager at Teva, I plan to improve our footprint and increase the availability of our innovative product portfolio in Brazil. We want to keep strengthening our areas of expertise in the future.
We want to improve health care for specialized conditions patients by making quality medicines accessible at a more affordable price.
EF: What are the lessons you have learned during the pandemic?
RR: In a dynamic environment like the pandemic, we need to be proactive. Historically, the pharmaceutical industry waits for direction through essential players. Due to the lack of products and supplies, companies went to governments and worked together to get solutions for Covid-19 quickly. Opening up to governments was a step forward because companies had never had this kind of flexibility. This collaboration changed the dynamics of our relationships and opened doors differently. I would like to see more of this type of collaboration in the future. This pandemic showed us that it is possible to have such a collaboration.
EF: Do you think it will be challenging for the dynamics to remain the same, post-Covid?
RR: We will have to evaluate. Out of necessity, the governments behaved differently. The change was due to specific laws and waivers brought on by the pandemic. Pharma companies openly sat down with the stakeholders to get Covid-19 products approved quickly. Therefore, it is possible when there is a need. FastTrack solutions are needed. I hope we do not take a step back from the new dynamic when the pandemic is gone.
EF: Shifting gears towards HR. How did you attract the best talent to Teva?
RR: What differentiates us is patient care through our products. An example is when we develop and modify medicine for a patient with a rare disease; it helps us attract talent. Because we are a specialized company, talents can see the difference their work makes. We are helping patients and seeing the difference, it creates motivation for our search for talents.
EF: You have an extensive international career and have been exposed to many markets. What would be your definition of access?
RR: The right medicine, for the right person, at the right time at an affordable cost. The right medicine for the right person means patients get the correct diagnosis and treatment at the right stage. For this, it´s necessary to have protocols for access. The entire process needs to be patient-centric. We still have relevant challenges in Latin America in this regard.
EF: How can we restore the importance of early diagnosis and get patients back to care?
RR: The Brazilian government struggled to allocate resources to the ‘silent pandemic,’ the chronic diseases that were not being taken care of because of lockdowns, lack of resources etc. Therefore, there was no plan or strategy made. Fortunately, the medical industry is trying to catch up. All the diagnosis and treatment patients that were on hold during the pandemic are slowly coming back to be treated. This should have been carefully planned for.
EF: How has digitalization impacted the launch of your products and the pipeline?
RR: We are excited to launch high-quality and complex products to treat cancer and other specialized conditions like rare diseases. There is a growth in demand for specialized products in the Brazilian pharma market, therefore we will look into bringing the specialized products into our product pipeline.
Digitally we are moving forward. We have to understand our customer or HCPs segmentation and their journey. Companies need to identify HCPs' profiles and engage at the point of their need. We need to understand the generational difference between HCPs because the way the younger generation integrates prodigals to treat the patient digitally is different from the older generations. Our primary connection point is to share scientific data and value propositions through digital platforms.
Companies have not fully adapted to digitalization yet. As pharma companies, we need to be closer to patients, using different digital platforms.
EF: Did you introduce and trace any new KPIs while managing during these times?
RR: Traditional engagement channels like CRM are easy to track because of the systems in place. There are many more channels with digitalization, and interactive usage is higher. Therefore, we channelled more KPIs towards digitalization. Understanding how to use digital KPIs serves as a guiding tool highlighting the key areas we should improve.
Many companies have supply and operations meetings (SOP) once a month. We started having SOPs weekly during the pandemic because of the new KPIs. These weekly meetings were necessary. During this time, everything around supply chain management was essential because we wanted to ensure client satisfaction and delivery. It was a good challenge where we had to react fast.
EF: How was it to take over as General Manager during the Pandemic? And what attracted you to Teva?
RR: I was blessed to integrate my management style with Teva's while adapting to their organizational culture. My price management ideas were well received because Teva management has more personal connections with manufacturers, and everything is kept in-house. Integrating my expertise and Teva's management style allowed me to keep our employees safe during the pandemic. When the first wave of Covid-19 hit, we did not know what to do. Our decisions changed from day to day because we would not know what to expect.
Although Teva is a global leader, impacting 200 million patients every day, in Brazil it´s still in the initial development phase, but with such an impact in the pharma industry locally. I have worked for innovative pharma companies in the past, yet Teva has different approaches. The impact you make both as a company and as an individual attracted me to Teva.
EF: Let's fast forward ten years from now, what would you like this moment in your career to be remembered for?
RR: For gaining access to medicines for the patients by implementing innovative health care in Brazil. We work closely with health insurance in Brazil by using creative ideas and strategies. Looking back, I would like to be remembered as an innovative person who could negotiate and expand access to new treatments for patients. It is good to inspire people to join and keep growing the pharma industry in Brazil through the footprint you leave behind. As a leader, you have to encourage and inspire people to use their skills and competencies to go above limitations. Being a leader is part of getting your team to evolve and grow. This is one of the biggest challenges that executives have been facing during this time, and that is why it requires unique talent.
Brazil is probably one of the most complex and challenging markets out there. To be in business in Brazil, you have to be resilient and understand the different models and opportunities.
