Astellas constantly adapts to change

Mr. Ivanov, how can an enterprise introduce and develop ‘commercial excellence’?

Any organization must objectively analyze and assess its position at the moment and what it wants to achieve in order to chart a real path to achieve the goal. Very often, corporations are in a state of "rest" when it comes to their processes. We often hear the principle "if it works, don't touch it" at play. Usually, in such cases, new changes are provoked by external factors - Covid 19 was a catalyst for a number of previously "unwanted" changes in corporations.

When the pandemic began, companies in the pharmaceutical industry wanted to keep in touch with healthcare professionals, and thus began to develop digital approaches to communication. Data shows that there is between a 300% and 3250% jump in virtual event participation on part of the healthcare professionals in 2020 compared to 2019. Initially, companies were trying to “catch up” with the times and implement these approaches. In a highly regulated environment such as the pharmaceutical industry, this is a difficult process that, in addition to technological innovation, also requires compliance with regulatory frameworks. The investments are huge, and it is important that every change is well planned and future-proof.

Tell us how Astellas introduces and implements commercial excellence through its team in Bulgaria?

In our country, Astellas puts a lot of effort into segmenting the healthcare professionals it works with and providing each of them with medical information in their preferred way. The Astellas portfolio is growing and becoming more complex. At the same time, we maintain an optimal team structure to achieve our results today, but also to look to the future. Regarding the internal environment in the company, one of the main roles of our team is to revise, change or introduce processes that are efficient and make work easier. Although our team was formed at the beginning of this year, we have already managed to change several key processes.

Can you share some of these specific steps?

An important point in the upcoming introduction of new products is the organization of two separate teams focused on sales. That’s where the 'commercial excellence' approach was at the forefront throughout this process. We aimed to maintain our strong performance in oncology and build a strong team in the new therapeutic areas we are seeking to tap into.

Our team had the difficult task of analyzing (based on sales and geographical distribution) the number of healthcare professionals visited by each Key Account manager, but also proposing a new structure. The diverse professional experience of the commercial excellence team members made this analysis possible and based on proper targeting and segmentation. Astellas Bulgaria is part of a cluster structure, and we are affiliated with Hungary, Romania and Greece. Therefore, all the internal processes that we analyze and change must be applicable not only on our territory, but also to a large extent in these four countries. In such cluster structures, the role of the commercial excellence team is key to unifying processes across countries.

What are the indications that a company has achieved commercial excellence in the context of ever-changing market conditions and consumer needs?

The dynamics of "ever-changing market conditions and consumer needs" show that achieving "commercial excellence" is only temporary and so we must never stop adapting to change. An experienced and committed team must anticipate what changes will be needed and implement new approaches proactively and not after the external or internal environments have forced us to do it. Companies have short-term and long-term goals – profit, cost reduction, operating profit and others. Operating profit is an important indicator that can testify to "commercial excellence" and properly directed resources and efforts. This is a clear indicator of efficient processes and working teams.

How does Astellas implement the "Doing more with less" model so that sustainable practices can also ensure business sustainability?

Everyone views the "Doing more with less" model differently. What is "more" and what is "less"? For me, this definitely does not mean a reduction in investments and activities. The most valuable resource is always people's time. Proper time management can yield the best results. What our team aims for is to optimize the time of all employees in the organization - whether we’re speaking of internal collaboration or operating in the external environment. When communicating with healthcare professionals, we must value their time and have the right approach at the right time with the right duration and with the right information.

At the heart of this is the correct targeting of the healthcare professionals with whom we work. It is then important to apply proper segmentation to ensure the right way of presenting information relevant to a particular specialist. Optimizing these processes also leads to a proper distribution of sales teams' time. It is this approach that has helped us restructure the sales teams – we now have an efficient organization adequate to the needs of the market in the therapeutic areas where we have been established for years and ready to meet future challenges in new areas. Digital approaches enable us to reach more healthcare professionals faster.

For which global health challenges are your R&D teams currently seeking and finding innovative solutions?

Medicine is developing dynamically. There are diseases that until recently were considered incurable, and now we are talking about their chronification. There are hematological diseases for which the average overall survival rate has increased several times. Many people are unaware of this progress, and this played part in the negative perception of the rapid development of Covid vaccines. New technologies are increasingly entering the medical field and for years there has been talk of personalized therapy, gene therapy and nanoparticles. Today, artificial intelligence is involved in the development of a number of new drugs, which accelerates their development.

According to IQVIA data, in 2022 more than 7,000 new medicinal products completed the road from clinical trials to patients while in 2007 this number was 3,000. As for Astellas – we are a leading innovative company with a developing portfolio. Soon, menopausal women in Bulgaria will have a new solution for their symptoms, and in the near future we will also help many people with other diseases. Going forward, Astellas plans to focus on gene therapies.