Merck Canada
ONTARIO
Q&A:
Getting to know Chirfi Guindo, Merck Canada’s new hired gun
Chirfi Guindo has only been the president and managing director for Merck Canada Inc. for nine months and already he has big plans for Merck’s Canadian outfit. Biotechnology Focus goes oneon-one with Mr. Guindo to discuss what’s in store for the Pharma giant’s Canadian subsidiary.
Q: How familiar were you with Canada before taking on the role of president and general manager of Merck Canada Inc. and how have you enjoyed your transition to the role? I had visited Canada as a tourist before taking the job, but to be honest I can’t say that I knew much about Canada. It is my first real business engagement with the country, but I’m enjoying it. It’s a great country that is much more diverse than I expected. When you’re sitting in Europe, where I spent most of my adult years or New Jersey, you see Canada as a single country. What I’ve discovered is Canada based on the geography and the fact that the provinces are very distinct and have a lot of autonomy, particularly in our field of healthcare; it is very similar to Europe in a regional sense. What has been surprising is the magnitude of great innovation and science taking place across the country.
Q: Takes us through your responsibilities as president and managing director of Merck Canada Inc.? My job here as head of the Canadian organization of Merck is really about being an ambassador for Canada, vis-à-vis our head office in New Jersey. This is a big part of my job. In other words, as many multinationals, you’re dealing with a competition model. Canada competes with Germany, France, Italy, and markets in Asia and elsewhere. My job as the head of the Canadian Merck subsidiary is to defend the business case for continued development in Canada. Equally important
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obviously is to help create an environment in Canada which will help Merck further grow our business interests, all the way from research to the commercialization of products. The third component is my role as leader of the team at Merck Canada. This is very much like cheerleading, the guy who makes sure we’re all working towards one common goal and that we inspire our teams to achieve more, and we remember that we’re all doing it for Canadian patients.
Q: Merck has long history in Canada, but its business model and commitment here has also changed over the years. How would you say Merck in Canada stacks up with other subsidiaries within the greater company? Even though our headquarters in Canada are based in Québec, our activities really are nationwide. In fact, roughly half of our research money spent in terms of our ongoing clinical research that we do in Canada, is spent in Ontario. We have approximately 975 employees nationwide. Moreover we are highly invested across Canada in various sponsorships and partnerships in both a business and science sense. I might also add that Canada within the global network of Merck subsidiaries is one of highest recipients of research money in our company and also one of the most productive. In terms of research money spent, it ranks right up there with what is spent in Germany. I think the most important reason why is the fact that Canada does deliver in terms of return on investment. It has a great concentration of knowledge workers, scientists and researchers in our field and a tradition of excellence. You find that in Québec, Ontario, on the west coast in British Columbia and all over the country really.
Q: What is your vision for Merck Canada Inc.? A: I’m still relatively new to Canada, and I realize that people tend to associate Merck in Canada as being a Québec-focused company. I can’t stress enough that our focus and interests in fact stretch across
the country. As an example, we are always looking for new innovative science and technology opportunities, and that take us all over Canada. In fact, we have scouts on the ground like Steven Xanthoudakis who spends as much time in Ontario and British Columbia as he does in Québec and New Jersey. We’re also looking for new ways to work together with industry and government, taking a collaborative approach in finding sustainable ways to expand access to innovation in healthcare. This is what I’ve tried to do in my time with Merck, forging stronger partnerships between the government and industry as I have done in the past as managing director for South Africa and the Netherlands and I believe we can accomplish this here.
Q: What lessons have you learned elsewhere in your other roles around the world that you want to bring to this position? I have learned that if we as an industry are not able to look at long-range challenges that payors are facing, if we’re not able to really sit down and work collaboratively on encouraging or promoting access in a way that also assures sustainability objectives like budgets that these payors have, then we’re not going to be successful. What I have learned in other markets is exactly that: put yourself in the shoes of the payors, the regulators, and try to understand their issues, and then come up with, proposals and potential solutions, co-create those solutions in fact. That, to me is the only way forward.
Q: What are some challenges that you’re facing as a pharma company operating globally and are they different than the ones you now face here in Canada? Globally, the number one challenge is to continue to discover new molecules and technologies that are truly differentiated. Our business model needs that in order to be sustainable. The second one is to get those new discoveries to patients as quickly as possible. This is where you get into some of the challenges with regards
