PHARMAHEALTH GROUP.

“One of the contributions to the country is that we are now working on the development of a campaign for the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust”

PHARMAHEALTH GROUP is a company established in 2000, specialized in pharmaceutical marketing and healthcare communications, providing its clients with customized solutions focused on the needs of the industry.

TELL US MORE ABOUT THE COMPANY’S HISTORY AND WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE THE GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGES YOU HAVE HAD TO DATE?

We have had a very good year, I have to say, practically the fact that the industry had to transform from one moment to the next into a digital communication placed us in that historical moment of science as never before.

The pharmaceutical industry had been looking for this transformation of converting the face-to-face to digital for years and it had never been achieved because there was not the need, but in these circumstances the whole movement of medical promotion began to be done digitally, both the information for doctors and the communication with patients was done digitally and turned out to be closer.

This started a few years ago but not as strongly as now and it is something that has made PharMaCon and PharmaHealth Group grow in both markets because we have clients that are even working on directly related products.

In Puerto Rico our main client is Pfizer, for more than a decade we have worked with them in the vaccine category but Covid is something else, because it is a product that has authorization for emergency use. It is not a regular approval, which is what they normally work with. We are in the news of the day.

For us it has been a positive impact but the situation of what is happening with Covid is sad, very sad. From a business perspective there is a lot of work to be done in the health area.

One of the contributions to the country is that we are now working on the development of a campaign for the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust, which is one of the pillars of economic development that has to do with science and clinical studies. We were hired to work on the Covid patient registry, it is one of the areas of opportunity because it has to do with data management and organization of pandemic patient information. This registry is being done for the first time and it gives us the opportunity to educate the patient about the importance of registering and the benefits of this.

Puerto Rico can project itself into the future with this type of registry. For years it has attracted the pharmaceutical industry and now it is moving a step further in the area of strengthening clinical studies to become a hub in this area. This is a project that will open many doors, allowing the country to be among the most important in terms of clinical studies, development and research.

We have always been in the manufacturing area, but being in the area of clinical studies and research is different. They go hand in hand and this is a first step to strengthen science from the perspective of an economic engine for the island.

What was originally a consulting firm later evolved into a full-service advertising, marketing and communications group. Today, PharMaCon provides a wide range of services for organizations in the healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

WHAT ARE THE MEDIUM AND LONGTERM OBJECTIVES YOU HAVE SET FOR THE COMPANY?

We have strengthened ourselves entirely in making the digital aspect grow, many times working with partners in the programming sector. My vision is that we have been in this market all our lives, in a treatment model where people get sick and are treated, but very far from prevention. In this aspect we can create digital models of prevention and that this is the future of science, that this tool becomes part of the treatment. In other companies they already have devices to improve patient treatment but they have not reached the point where it becomes a prevention tool.

We want to move into this expanding area because we have clients like Pfizer that have started working hard to develop the Hispanic markets in the U.S. We have started with the Spanish websites for Puerto Rico and for the U.S. market.

At the same time we have developed campaigns that already exist in the U.S. but working in Spanish for the FDA regulated market. We want to become that key piece to develop the Hispanic market in the U.S. In fact, I am in Florida, and here we have our office and we have the opportunity to work not only for the Hispanic market but also for Latin America, which are two totally different spaces.

The priority is the East Coast where we have done pilot projects targeting key Hispanic markets. On the West Coast we have also done some work.

They have extensive experience providing communication services to global pharmaceutical companies, healthcare providers and major local medical entities, such as GSK, Merck, Amgen, among other world-renowned companies.

WHAT IS THE RELEVANCE OF THE US FOR YOUR COMPANY? HOW OPEN ARE YOU TO STRATEGIC ALLIANCES WITH US HEALTHCARE INSTITUTIONS OR INVESTORS?

Despite all the situations that this country has gone through, everything that has to do with the pharmaceutical industry always has a point in favor because it is a proven model, it is an ecosystem that we know has worked and it is the manufacturing part. We want to demonstrate the same potential in marketing and communication, which is what we are emphasizing.

We are working and already have achievements so that we are seen with the same level of quality, compliance and strategy as any multinational agency in the U.S. We have the know-how of the FDA in Spanish that practically did not exist in the way we approach it. There may be some agencies that have a Hispanic division but it is not the universal Spanish. We do it in a transparent way.

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPANSION PLANS?

It is more as new partners, although customers are always coming in. We are currently working with an American company for the development of products dedicated to patients suffering from post-Covid consequences. What we want is to accompany strategic partners to expand into other areas.

In Latin America it is a little different, we will try after the pandemic. It is very difficult but not impossible, it is more likely to expand in the U.S. Hispanic market.

In 2 or 3 years we will try to make our presence in that region stronger.

CEO & Founder.|PharmaHealth Group

Previously you worked in the marketing area of renowned companies such as GSK and Merck. In 2000 you decided to take on this new challenge with PharmaHealth Group.

BEFORE WE GO TO THE LAST QUESTION, COULD YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND?

I started working in the pharmaceutical industry at Merck, after a while I was at GSK, in both companies I worked in marketing for veterinary products, then I moved to the area of humans.

I did my Bachelor ’s and Master ’s degree in marketing, I started as a Medical Representative, I always liked the scientific part of marketing, that’s how in Merck I became Market Research Manager. That position gave me the opportunity to see the forest and not just the trees because I began to understand how the market worked by working with the data analysis that show us what is happening, I fell in love with the industry.

I was promoted to Product Manager in the cardiovascular line and then a new position was created, called Marketing Development, dedicated to market growth based on the launching of a product. I was in charge of developing the cholesterol area, which must be one of the most complex because it is a disease that has no symptoms. A scaffolding of education for the patient and for the doctor must be done in order to achieve the right prescription.

Eventually GSK made me a proposal to head their marketing department in Puerto Rico where I spent almost 3 years until a personal circumstance made me move to another niche which is the marketing of prescription products.

I started working as a consultant since the business was dedicated to that activity, then it was called PharMaCon which is from Puerto Rico. I was a consultant for the pharmaceutical company and the advertising agency. This market is well regulated with very high standards where strategy, implementation and execution are very important and in order to have control I needed to have a full service agency.

We have been developing the industry for 21 years. We are the only ones in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Initially we worked with a pharmaceutical company but today we have other interesting clients such as the Consortium for Clinical Research of Puerto Rico which is under the Science, Technology and Research Trust of Puerto Rico.

We work on other projects that are part of the island’s economic development as an agency of the Puerto Rico Pharmaceutical Industry Association, which, among other things, supports the return of pharmaceutical companies to Puerto Rico, and we support them from a communications perspective. We are diversifying the business within the health sector and we have moved a little more towards transcendental projects for the country.

After Hurricane Maria, the earthquakes and now with the pandemic we have taken a turn with the vision that we work on projects where we can make contributions to Puerto Rico to make the ecosystem of the pharmaceutical industry more solid.

WHAT ARE YOUR FINAL COMMENTS ABOUT PUERTO RICO AND ITS ENORMOUS POTENTIAL IN THE HEALTH SECTOR, AND HOW WOULD YOU INVITE THE INFLUENTIAL READERS OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES TO VISIT THIS COUNTRY?

In such a changing time as this, we cannot allow the company to go back and forth. We must have a clear vision, a defined strategy and goals, and surround ourselves with a good team, both internal and external, that has the knowledge, tools and skills to work as a team and with confidence for the project to be successful.

At the team meeting at the beginning of the year, I was telling them that we had never had a more successful year in the 21 years of this company thanks to teamwork. We continue to work virtually, we have found a way to be as effective as we were before the pandemic. Teamwork is fundamental, otherwise we would not have achieved what we have achieved this year.