What inspires you to get up every day?
Patients, and the potential impact you can have on their lives. I spent eight years working for Genentech. When you make medicines for cancer, you often receive letters from patients and their families thanking you because you saved the life of their friend, their wife, their child, etc. This is such rewarding and purposeful feedback.
Now that I work at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, the exciting and passionate thing that makes me get up every day is having such a big platform to make a difference for patients. We work with innovators, big pharma, and biotech companies across the world. We see their pipelines and the impact to patients, and we hear stories on a much broader scale, which is very rewarding.
The more influential I am in my career, the more I can impact the agenda and direction of the entire Life Science industry. I feel as if I have to do better, run faster, and improve every day to get more medicines to patients. I think we all feel like this when working in this industry.
Did you find the switch from biopharma to CDMO challenging?
I certainly had to give it some thought. Specifically, I considered how I could apply my mindset to the CDMO business.
I had never seen the CDMO business as a purposeful part of the industry before; it was more an organization that merely churned products out whilst trying to make as much money as possible! To some extent, you still see that in the parts of the industry, but I'm trying to drive a different agenda to make sure that everything we do at this company has the same purpose and the focus that innovators have. At FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies our aim is to be Partners for Life. What we mean by that is we are doing much more than just developing and manufacturing biopharmaceuticals; we partner with and work alongside our clients every step of the way to bring life-changing therapies to patients around the world.
What is overwhelming is seeing the impact and the opportunities we have with so many companies in what we do. Multiple opportunities mean multiple products and multiple launches, so the speed and pressure are immense – more so than what you would see in an innovator company with fewer products. The work is never done. There are always new products coming and it takes some getting used to.
What’s your academic background and how has it helped your career?
I'm an engineer trained at the Technical University of Denmark, which – at the time – was the only place you could really get a master's degree in engineering in Denmark. I went straight out of school directly into the life sciences. My background is in automation and engineering in a manufacturing facility for life sciences. That’s how I found my way into the industry, starting very early at Novo Nordisk. My training in engineering has helped me a lot to understand how pharma manufacturing works. My tenure with Novo Nordisk gave me a deep understanding of what the big pharma companies need from their CDMOs. As President and CEO for FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies I can merge these two.
How has the culture in Denmark helped play a role in your career?
Denmark is a small country, but there are a handful of life science companies, including Novo Nordisk, which were very big at the time I was studying (though not as big as they are today of course!). Life sciences is a popular career, particularly for those in the Copenhagen area where most of the universities are situated, and the popularity of life sciences and my passion for helping people destined me for this industry. Jutland is home to the more traditional, mechanical industries with companies such as Danfoss, Grundfos, Lego, and Bang & Olufsen.
What are the key attributes of a successful CEO?
CEOs have changed a lot. You need to be mindful of the shifts and transformations in the world, and you have to understand how people are shifting. You must understand how business is changing and how to navigate between those shifts, as well as what is important to stakeholders and investors.
For me, it's all about people and stakeholders – and making sure you understand where the industry is going must be foundational to the strategy. Our 3 strategic pillars at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies are; people first, transform the industry, and unprecedented delivery.
What are the challenges facing the CDMO sector?
The pharmaceutical industry has been in somewhat of a safe space for many years, with comfortably high profits. Compare this with other industries, such as the automotive or semiconductor industries, however, and it looks like pharma has been less transformative because it has been very lucrative, with few companies reducing their prices.
Now, there are many more biosimilars and generics, so there has been pressure – especially from governments – to make medicines cheaper and more accessible. There is immense pressure on innovators and supply chains are having to become more efficient. It's a good pressure to be under, however, because it makes us more efficient, lowers costs, and improves patient access to medicines.
More and more companies are building fewer facilities because of the improved efficiency that CDMOs bring to the supply chain. The more CDMOs, the bigger the network of facilities, and the more options an innovator has. A CDMO’s core business is to develop and manufacture medicines; an innovator’s role is to innovate and develop new medications and therapies to treat diseases and ultimately improve the lives of patients. It’s a perfect partnership, but you have to make sure you deliver and create with the right values. Making sure innovators can trust a CDMO is key.
What are you doing when you're not being a CEO?
I have a wife and three kids, as well as a dog and a house, so I'm extremely busy making sure I have enough time for all that! I like to travel. I enjoy history, and what we can learn from it. The more you dig back into history, the more you learn to look at the future. I also like music and going to concerts too. Every single day is wonderful. I would love to have 24 hours more every day, but I think I'm in a wonderful position being in a job with so many good people around me. The people behind what we do are the most important thing. If we can find the real purpose of who we are, we create a psychologically safe space to be in and get on with doing what we think is best for the world.
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