Read the Conversation
Meeting highlights:
- Successful Product Launches and Talent Growth: the importance of launching new medicines in Brazil while building a strong, specialized team.
- Expanding Key Therapeutic Areas: growth in areas like oncology,obesity and Alzheimer’s Diseasefocusing on the positive impact on patient outcomes.
- Strategic Role of Brazil: Brazil’s market, talent pool, and healthcare system complexities prepare professionals for global contributions.
- Healthcare Access Challenges: the need for collaboration to improve patient access and speed up reimbursement processes.
- Clinical Trials and Broader Access: the importance of enhancing clinical trials in Brazil and expanding access to innovations, regardless of income.
EF: When you were appointed, what mission did you set for yourself in this role? What do you want to achieve as a general manager in Brazil?
DB: I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to work in the US, South Africa, Japan, and Canada, where I'm originally from, and to launch multiple brands globally. The timing couldn’t be better for me to join Brazil, whereby at the end of this year, we expect to launch up to five new medicines and indications, with at least five more next year. Our pipeline is rich for Lilly as a corporation, specifically in Brazil.
I focus on delivering launch excellence, building a winning team, and onboarding new talent as we expand rapidly. We have a strong team but are also looking for people who can complement our skill set and fill gaps in strategic areas. I'm also committed to helping the team adopt new capabilities, leveraging my experience in other businesses to bring innovation to Brazil and accelerate our launches. This year alone we aim to make life better for 1.5 million people in Brazil and we are on track to achieve our goals this year thanks to all my colleagues.
EF: Could you elaborate on how your portfolio is evolving in Brazil and some of the treatments and upcoming treatments you are most excited about?
DB: We're well-established in oncology and have helped countless people. Additionally, we launched two new medicines this year, one of them in a new segment – oncohematology and another in precision medicine. I am consistently impressed to see how we excel quickly in new areas and continue to impact people's lives significantly. It's truly rewarding to offer options that can prolong lives and give hope. I'm also excited about expanding our portfolio in immunology, an area I worked in while in Japan, as well as pioneering our journey in Alzheimer’s Disease in Brazil. The company believes deeply in the potential to impact many lives in Brazil, so we're investing heavily in these new fields but also ongoing portfolios. On this note, I couldn't be more excited about expanding our presence in cardiometabolic health and bringing a truly life-changing treatment for diseases like diabetes and obesity, which both have significant unmet needs in Brazil. We're committed to being a driving force in changing the narrative around these diseases, helping people understand the associated risks, and encouraging them to seek the treatment they need for better outcomes.
EF: What makes Brazil a special market? Why is a dollar invested in Brazil better than a dollar invested elsewhere?
DB: The market has responded well to our organization’s commitment. As we increased our investment and provided additional education, we’ve seen a strong and positive reaction, which speaks about the continuous quality our teams have produced, often partnering closely with different societies. More importantly, we have an incredible workforce at Lilly Brazil. Established colleagues or recent hires are both leveraging their talents and ultimately, these people make our investments go a long way. The impact of Brazil goes beyond the country boundaries where much of our Brazilian talent is sought after not only contributing locally but also at a global level, with some even working abroad. The diverse talents here, combined with the complexities of our healthcare system, prepare our teams well to tackle challenges and maximize our investments.
EF: Could you give us a sense of how you assess access in Brazil and what Lilly and other stakeholders are doing to improve that?
DB: I have been exposed to quite different access systems. In Japan, the national health care system is quite different from that in Brazil, where you have out-of-pocket payments, private reimbursements, and a public market. This fragmentation brings its complexity and opportunities. In general, we need to accelerate how we reach patients across all these areas, and it will require all of us to come together and discuss. No matter where you sit in this ecosystem, we all share the goal of providing better care for our communities. The challenge lies in how we achieve that, and it’s crucial to recognize the value that our medicines bring to patients. I believe that open discussions lead to great results, and partnering with the government will be key to increasing the number of people we can help. There is no doubt that I would love to see accelerated reimbursements here in Brazil and to do this, we might need to consider innovative approaches.
Lilly is committed to reaching an additional 30 million people globally by 2030 and is engaging with local partners and governments around the world to achieve this objective, bringing additional investments and know-how around the world.
EF: Beyond the physical portfolio, how are you interacting with different stakeholders and collaborating in Brazil to build a more prosperous healthcare system?
DB: One thing that's dear to my heart is that after 25 years as a commercial leader, I realized that no matter how carefully I set up a good customer experience, it had been shaped long before my time by the clinical trial group. As an ambassador for Lilly, improving the landscape for clinical trials in Brazil is critical. Engaging with stakeholders who can help Brazil become even more competitive in this area is essential. We see a desire to accelerate the implementation of clinical trials, and this will be important for Brazil, which still needs to catch up with other countries regarding approval times and cycle times. At Lilly, we currently have over 43 studies underway involving more than 5,000 patients across more than 500 clinical centers in various therapeutic areas; I believe we could double that if timelines improve significantly. I'm confident my peers and I can increase our investment here should this happen, leading to significant positive outcomes and even stronger Brazilian representation in global clinical trials of all kinds.
Once a product is commercially available, I'm passionate about making the medicine accessible to everyone, regardless of income. I strongly believe that income level should not dictate healthcare. Though these are longer-term projects, I'd love to engage in discussions and partner with key stakeholders to bring innovation to a broader group of patients in Brazil and consider different approaches for medicine reimbursement.
EF: How does Lilly attract and retain the best talent in Brazil in such a competitive market? What is special about Lilly?
DB: One of our former leaders at Lilly used to say, 'When it's not about people, it's about people.' I love that saying because it's true: our pipeline is a major reason people join Lilly, but our people are why they stay. We often hear during interviews that candidates are excited about our therapeutic areas and the many opportunities ahead. But it's also the commitment they see in Lilly, like our dedication to Alzheimer's research, where it took us 35 years and many failures before achieving a positive clinical trial. We do some of our best work when it is difficult. People view Lilly as a company that is truly committed to research.
I also like hearing that people feel we are genuinely patient-centric. Coming to Brazil, I'm amazed by the incredible diversity here. I've worked in many countries but have never seen diversity like this. We are putting this diversity to work for the people we serve, and to do this, we've created a safe environment where people can be themselves. We created a space where people express themselves, and I think people are attracted to that and stay at Lilly because of our special environment. The first step is attracting them; then, it's about developing and retaining them. People stay because of this environment and because they grow and see the opportunities ahead based on our pipeline. I promote the idea that you own your career; coaches and managers invest time in giving feedback and supporting and challenging others. While it's up to the individual, being at Lilly increases your chances of becoming the best version of yourself because we invest heavily in people's development.
EF: When Lilly has the 80th year celebration this year, what will you include in your speech, and what will you celebrate in these 80 years in Brazil?
DB: I deeply resonate with Lilly’s commitment to patients and positively impacting the community we work in, which is why Lilly's values align closely with mine. Lilly is an organization that doesn't shy away from challenges but embraces them. When challenges arise, we come together to deliver the best solutions. Celebrating 80 years of Lilly Brazil is also celebrating significant milestones and the remarkable journey where we've positively impacted countless lives.
This milestone also comes at a perfect time as we aim to become the fastest-growing pharma company in Brazil, which will further enhance our ability to improve patient outcomes. We'll need to collaborate with key stakeholders to achieve this, and I'm confident in our ability to deliver this goal. We've demonstrated success in early diagnostics, proper care, and rapid treatment in Brazil and globally, which gives me great confidence in our continued impact for many years. We'll continue this legacy for the next 80 years and beyond, just as Lilly has done for the past 148 years globally.
EF: Hypothetically speaking, in five years, when you look back at your trajectory in Brazil, how would you like people around you to remember you as a leader?
DB: As a leader, I'm thrilled to be in Brazil and South America. I do not doubt our ability to positively evolve and grow the healthcare system, impacting more lives. I hope people see me as a team builder and a transformative servant leader who helps make a difference not just for patients but also for my colleagues. As said earlier, I'm genuinely impressed by the diversity of this country and aim to create an environment that taps into that diversity, incorporating those ideas to accelerate our performance. I aim to empower people to pursue their ambitions and build careers that reflect them.
Regarding the legacy I hope to leave, I want to strengthen this organization by adding new capabilities, but this will only happen if I create the right environment. If it doesn't materialize, the responsibility falls on me. Just recently, during a review of our execution, I was amazed by how much progress we've made in just six months. People have embraced new ideas, contributed better ones, and accelerated our transformation. As we do this, I hope to inspire other organizations to follow suit and help transform the healthcare system. This progress will continue to grow even more in a year or two.
EF: Do you have any final message for the industry or your international or Brazilian colleagues?
DB: I’ve often heard comparisons where people say Brazil is well behind tier-one countries, but I believe Brazil has nothing to be rueful for. The intelligence and potential here are immense, and I want everyone to have ambitions that match their high capabilities. Brazil has great opportunities to lead, especially in areas like clinical trials and medical and commercial ones. We aim to launch molecules almost simultaneously with other countries, and it's possible here. When it comes to drug access, if you're willing to cover it, why wait 18 months? If you see the benefit after 18 months, why not realize those benefits earlier and help people faster? These are my thoughts based on international experience, and Brazil stands strong compared to other countries. I hope we can live up to these ambitions.
