Following the acquisition of Fournier Pharma in 2005, Solvay implemented project 'Inspire' to integrate and transform the company into a global organisation. In an interview with IMS, Dr Werner Cautreels, General Manager of Solvay Pharmaceuticals, spoke about the transformation of the company, the need to adapt to new expectations from the market, and some future growth opportunities.
IMS: "What do you see as the main opportunities for growth?"
Werner Cautreels: "They come from a number of different angles. We have implemented in the past, and this goes back several years, a rather aggressive approach in mainly two areas. One is in geographical expansion and as a result today we are strong in a large number of important emerging markets. Those are Russia and the countries around it, the eastern part of Europe, and we also have operations in Asia, in India and China. So I believe that this is certainly one important vehicle for growth.
"The Fournier acquisition has given us a cardiometabolic platform which is much more solid than it used to be before. The fenofibrate franchise is an important one. We have been able to not only grow the current products but to make good progress with our products out of that platform. Examples are Synordia, a combination product, and also in the US, an agreement between Abbott and AstraZeneca for a fixed-dose combination with Crestor. So there are a number of opportunities in the fenofibrate franchise that are very important, and they will allow us to grow further. The cardiometabolic pipeline of the combined companies, the next Solvay Pharmaceuticals, now has a number of important and interesting opportunities, some of which we have partnered with other companies like odiparcil (with GlaxoSmithKline) and SLV 319 (with Bristol-Myers Squibb), and as this is a high medical needs area, the cardiometabolic franchise is certainly a driver for growth.
"Pipeline is also important for neurosciences, which we have selected as our second focused therapeutic area. We submitted the NDA for bifeprunox in the US and we’re working further for Europe. In Parkinson's there is Duodopa and SLV 308, which is in Phase III, so there is that platform that needs to grow. Next we obviously look to complete that portfolio with the other therapeutic areas. The influenza vaccine is a big opportunity for us but also the pancreatic enzymes. So I think all the platforms provide good contribution for growth. As no company can do everything alone, we have partnerships to help us and we look very actively all the time for opportunities from the outside. In the last few years we have done just that; Fournier is one example. We bought a company in Sweden, Neopharma, that brought us Duodopa for Parkinson's, and we also made an acquisition in Mexico (Italmex) only about a year and a half ago for further geographical expansion. That is in the framework of new markets or emerging markets, but we are constantly looking to the outside to see if we can add opportunities to this, small or big."
IMS: "According to IMS data, around 59% of Solvay's sales are from products older than 11 years of age. Can you expand on your strategy for driving the business forward with this relatively mature portfolio?"
WC: "In certain geographical areas you may have a limitation with a mature portfolio, and that’s especially true in Europe. That is compensated today to a large extent by the fact that we have a strong organisation in the emerging markets where those products are very much looked for. As we have been able to implement very efficient systems in terms of manufacture and distribution of those products, that provides for us an opportunity in those markets. It is clear that for the other more sensitive markets, there we have to make our bets and focus on pipeline, which we do."
IMS: "AndroGel is still one of Solvay's leading products in terms of sales, and is still growing. What is the future for this product and is there more in the lifecycle to come?"
WC: "We have intellectual property on AndroGel for many years to come; I believe the year is 2020. Recently, we have concluded co-promotional agreements with two other companies, Watson and Par, where we have commercial efforts in areas where we will, between the companies, focus on certain specific areas, like focusing on urologists, and so I think we will add some commercial efforts to the product. With those agreements, we also agreed to settle on IP challenges, which allow us to put our energy elsewhere than on litigation, which is important.
"Besides that, and this is something that is very often forgotten or underplayed, it is motivation for us, as for any pharmaceutical company, to continue to invest in products which otherwise might not receive that opportunity; we are conducting clinical trials in a number of other indications. I cannot disclose all of them but one is something that we have mentioned publicly, in Type II diabetes, which brings us back into the cardiometabolic focus. Of course, we have to conduct the trials and we have to see what the results are, but our underlying hypothesis is that there may be a link there between hypogonadism, or low testosterone levels, and risks for those patients. I believe that if these trials work out - and that’s an R&D risk we have to assume - I believe that it would certainly provide an additional opportunity, not only for a commercial and a business purpose but also for those patients. I think this is something that is sometimes forgotten in the all discussions around generics and benefits for patients - one should not forget that very often those products are the victim of not being invested in any more."
IMS: "Which is quite interesting because as part of the reorientation, it was stated that research into hormone therapies (gynaecology/andrology) is to be 'de-emphasised' but there would be licensed buy-ins and acquisitions. Can you explain what you mean by this and what can be achieved with this strategy?"
WC: "Let me clarify the use of the word de-emphasis. When we redefined approximately a year ago our platforms around therapeutic areas, we defined three classes, two which receive full R&D efforts from bench work to early and late clinical trials, and they are cardiometabolic and neurosciences. We had at that point in time research programmes - and we define research programmes as everything that is discovery to clinical proof of principle - all serving gynaecology, andrology and gastroenterology. Those are not easy to execute and when we had looked into the feasibility, the medical need, combination of external factors and also internal competencies, and the fact that we had to focus and put the resources to work in a somewhat focused way, we decided to de-emphasise the research to proof of principle parts of the gynaecology/andrology and gastroenterology programmes. Now that doesn’t mean that we don’t value the product platforms we do have, and we conduct quite a lot of clinical late stage or even post-approval clinical trials with some products in those two platforms because we do believe that there still is good potential for them. And if we identify product line opportunities, whether that is a single product or company parts or pieces, and that is attractive then we would still be open to do that. But we would not burden that with the R&D risk."
IMS:"What are the main challenges facing Solvay Pharmaceuticals in the coming years?"
WC: "It’s the transformation process, and that transformation process is affected by a lot of external factors. The stakeholder platform is changing or our environment is changing the expectations of the stakeholders, whether those are patients or payers. Regulatory agencies and experts and key opinion leaders have changed a lot. I do believe that for all our companies, challenges are related to the expectations of those different stakeholders which are completely different today. To give you a few examples, that is expectations in terms of transparency and expectations in terms of benefit risk, which is a real big one because that and one of the items I mentioned before - the need to change and think together with stakeholders about changing algorithms for certain things we do - I think is the biggest challenge. Of course, next to that, we just have to perform up to our strategy but that’s not a challenge; that is working hard and doing the right things. The challenge is to complete that transformation process."
The full transcript of this interview will be available in the April 2007 IMS Company Profiles on Solvay, where Werner Cautreels also discusses with IMS’ editor Dr Shehla Sheikh the issues facing the pharmaceutical industry in general, Solvay's presence in Asia, marketing in the US, and his company's vaccines activity.
Covering approximately 100 of the top pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, IMS Company Profiles offer authoritative insight into company strategy, finances, portfolio management, R&D and history and also contain top-line IMS sales data. They are available for immediate purchase online, or by subscription as a stand-alone product or as part of IMS Knowledge Link. For more information about either product, please contact Stephanie Earle via e-mail, or call +44 203 075 5757.