Rebranding in an evolving world

In our industry, a corporate brand can often be perceived as a stand-alone concept, a recognisable colour scheme or a company logo, but an organisation’s brand is, in fact, its identity: its values, its personality and its people. That’s why at ADVANZ PHARMA we have been committed to transforming our brand over the past two years to closely align with our revitalised company vision. It is only through the resilience and entrepreneurial spirit of our people, and the intrinsic guidance of our corporate personality that we can reach this vision: to improve the lives of patients by enhancing the critical medicines they depend on, broadening patient access and improving health outcomes around the world.

In 2018, we made the decision to transform our corporate identity and redefine our company, through our determination to innovate and grow within the niche established medicines sector. This decision meant going beyond our past achievements to refocus and re-evaluate our position in the market, while meeting the needs of increasingly complex global healthcare systems. We have made significant inroads to this plan and, as a result, I would describe the past 24 months for the company as being truly transformative in what we have achieved. This has included structural and physical changes to the organisation, ranging from shifts in our senior leadership team, right through to the look and feel of our office spaces across the globe. This has helped to ensure that all employees feel they are part of the journey and have the same vision for growth, while becoming a truly dynamic, progressive company in the process.

One of the many benefits of the rebranding and refinancing of the company is that it has allowed us to shift the focus of the business so that we can invest more extensively in our pipeline, both organic and inorganic. We have been able to reset our strategic compass to move towards a more complex, added-value portfolio, while keeping the base established products business as the foundation of our work through the creation of two distinct business units, the first being our global established products unit and the other a strategic growth unit, where we can focus our efforts on commercialising more complex medicines in the European hospitals market.

‘The need to continue evolving and growing will be at the forefront of our minds and strategy as we move forwards’

This includes advancements in some of our key therapy areas that we believe will be of great value to patients, particularly in the anti-infectives space which has had limited investment in recent years, despite the ever-increasing health burden of antimicrobial resistance globally. Further to this, our expansion in endocrinology will, I believe, be of notable significance as we focus on a more patient-focused treatment experience with the launch of one of our key pipeline assets in the new year. Simultaneously, we are consistently searching for products that fit our brand and portfolio so that we can continue to expand and provide clear value to patients and healthcare providers.

It goes without saying that partnerships are a fundamental part of that portfolio expansion, which is why another key area of investment has been in mergers and acquisitions. Through our strategic dedication to growth in the past two years, we are now well placed as a ‘go to’ partner within an ever-expanding collaboration network. We’ve made monumental strides in increasing our European presence through the acquisition of Correvio Pharma in May this year, which immediately strengthened our position as a trusted partner when commercialising hospital medicines in Europe. Acquiring Correvio was a truly landmark step in our journey of rebranding and restrategising the company, bringing stability, capability and, above all, a robust foundation to continue on our growth trajectory. It also brings a highly experienced team, with significant commercial and medical knowledge, as well as established relationships with healthcare professionals across Europe – something we are very much looking to build upon.

Our rebrand undeniably infiltrated all aspects of our company, not least our company values, vision and people. In becoming ADVANZ PHARMA, we were able to create a new, fast-paced culture where we are constantly challenging and championing one another. There is a true collegiate, entrepreneurial spirit within the company which inspires everyone to transcend the boundaries of what we can achieve in line with our corporate goals. The injection of vibrant, diverse talent from people of all walks of life, and at all levels, has been incredibly refreshing to see and we look forward to recruiting more ambitious minds as we look ahead to 2021.

At a time of such monumental change for the industry and, in fact, the world, this year has also provided us with a stark new perspective on the vital importance of supporting our employees across the globe, from our staff in Mumbai to employees in our Sweden offices, to ensure they can work as safely and as comfortably as possible. This has meant a transition in our policies, to provide flexible working patterns and an efficient transition to remote working at the beginning of the year. Through our recognition of the unimaginable struggles that many have sadly faced this year, we have revitalised our commitment to corporate social responsibility in support of those who are less fortunate than ourselves. One example of this was our 24-hour dance-a-thon where our employees around the world, beginning on the east coast of Australia and ending in the Asia Pacific region, danced around-the-clock to raise tens of thousands of pounds for The British Red Cross Global Coronavirus Fund, an activity which I believe encapsulates the spirit of our people.

This year has given us all time to reflect on our priorities, both from a personal perspective and a business standpoint; however as a company, we are unwavering in our ambition and determination to grow and strengthen the strong foundations we have laid in the past two years. Since the rebrand, I am proud to say that, to date, we have set out exactly what we wanted to achieve. We have stabilised the company in such a way that we can create new, lasting partnerships, where we can continue to invest significantly in products and portfolio expansion. Our lean operating model combined with regulatory, quality and supply-chain capabilities across almost 100 countries means we are also able to acquire and integrate new products and companies quickly and efficiently.

In the process, we have determinedly established our reputation in the established products industry, becoming an esteemed partner of choice within a competitive global network. The solidification of our long-lived niche-established medicines business unit with our newly formed strategic growth business unit places us in a strong position to continue the supply of our 180+ molecules to specialised patient populations around the world, while simultaneously focusing on commercialising more complex medicines. The strides we have made in both of these areas would not have been possible without the dedication and steadfast resilience of our employees around the world, many of whom are part of our freshly acquired talent pool. Overall, as a company and as a team of 550+ staff, our goals for patients and for healthcare providers remain unchanged, but the need to continue evolving and growing will be at the forefront of our minds and strategy as we move forwards.

While we are still in the midst of the ongoing challenges of the pandemic, we are looking ahead to 2021 with plans to re-energise and shift the lens to portfolio expansion and the launch of promising pipeline assets. With our brand identity firmly in place, next year will be an opportunity to refine our strategy to ensure we remain on track to reach the corporate targets that we set out two years ago.

When reflecting on our move to restructure and rebrand the business in 2018, I am extremely proud to see how far we have come as a company in two short years. It was a bold decision to begin a new chapter and implement a vast array of changes to a company in such a small time frame, however we have already seen that we can withstand the most challenging of circumstances and not only survive but thrive. Transforming our corporate brand and becoming ADVANZ PHARMA was a landmark milestone in the company’s history and we look forward to building upon the successes, learning from the challenges and, ultimately, leading our employees into the next chapter of growth for the organisation.

‘Our company vision is to improve the lives of patients by enhancing the critical medicines they depend on, broadening patient access and improving health outcomes around the world’