Working Life: Celgene’s Lee Heeson
pharmafile | August 3, 2015 | Feature | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing | Celgene, Lee Heeson
How did you find your way into your current role?
My career has progressed from ‘carrying the bag’ for GlaxoSmithKline in Devon, to holding senior leadership positions in general management and strategic marketing in pharma firms across Europe, Latin America, the US and Japan. I have a real passion for market shaping within areas of high unmet medical need. If you add that all together you get my dream job – head of inflammation and immunology for Celgene in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
How is your field changing?
Patient access and real world data are becoming the foundation of the success of a new product, and now it all starts with designing clinical development plans while having this in mind.
What are the most enjoyable things about your role?
What I enjoy most is building a new franchise within an incredibly successful, patient-centric company. The Celgene inflammation and immunology value proposition has been a key factor in the formula to attract talented leaders who have an innovative mindset.
And the least enjoyable?
It is still difficult to translate the holistic value that an innovative therapy brings to patients and physicians in countries with a restrictive assessment framework. Sometimes these countries are too focused on formalised standards of treatment success which may not mirror our patients’ overall satisfaction.
What are you motivated by?
I am motivated by co-creating and operating in an environment which drives superior performance.I believe that this happens when passion, mastery and challenge co-exist within the team and the organisation, and delivers a real sense of purpose to employees.
What changes do you anticipate in the way pharma communicates with customers?
Our customers, as well as the communication channels that they use have changed dramatically during the last 10 years and they will continue to evolve. No longer is the voice towards the physician the major driver of success. It is the development and communication of the brand’s clinical and also its economic value proposition to multiple stakeholders across a variety of media, with digital becoming the primary platform for the future.
What are the most common misconceptions about your field and the people in it?
The immense value of medical innovation is probably not sufficiently recognised, but it’s because of this that people are living longer, better and healthier lives. Advances in medical innovation have yielded large societal gains.
Just to point out some key facts: there has been a 96% decrease in deaths per 100,000 people and a 62% increase in life expectancy since 1900. Just in the US alone, for every $1 spent on innovative medicines, total healthcare spending is reduced by $6.20. And innovative therapies accounted for 73% of the increase in life expectancy between 2000 and 2009.
Is there someone in your field who has inspired you or from whom you have learnt a lot?
Yes. Anyone that I have worked for and with who has an incredible ability to engage and also to motivate multiple stakeholders across countries and functions.
Similarly, is there someone (or something) outside your field who has been a source of inspiration for you?
To me, the most meaningful and inspiring quote is from Mark Twain: The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you figure out why you were born.
What is the secret to a happy working life?
A sense of purpose and belonging, which goes beyond the transaction of merely going to work. Along with a loving spouse and family for support.If you had advice for anyone starting out in your field now, what would it be?Find your ‘why’ as soon as you can in your career. And work on the front line at the customer interface as early as possible.
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