Market Access Mexico

Mar 28, 2012 - Mar 29, 2012, Mexico City, Mexico

Market Access Mexico

A Local Flavor will Bring You Sales Success in Brazil

Lucy Brake talks with Carlos Grzelak Jr, Sales & Access Director at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd in Brazil about the secrets to running a successful sales and market access strategy in a country that is the second largest only to China among emerging markets.



The Brazilian pharma environment has changed a lot in recent years. The arrival of patent protection and the entrance of generics to this country signalled an important shift for healthcare. eyeforpharma recently reported on how, with retail pharma figures reaching $24.8 billion last year, Brazil is beginning to look a lot more attractive than its highly regulated Eastern counterpart. By 2016 Brazil is expected to become the fourth biggest global pharmaceutical market offering many exciting opportunities for pharma companies, the potential seems almost limitless, but of course tapping into this Latin American success story is going to take some skill.

Having worked in this sector for a while now Grzelak has built up a solid understanding of what factors make up a successful sales and market access strategy. He observes that there are some key points that drive the pharma industry in Brazil including partnerships, flexibility and multichannel marketing.

Fostering collaboration

The Brazilian Government drug expenditure has increased significantly, to the point where it has now doubled in just four years. “A company not engaged in this part of the business is essentially out of the game because it is such a big component of the pharma sector,” comments Grzelak.

He notes that many pharma companies seem to be trying to produce large margins, which is obviously important, but equally critical is investing in the long-term sustainability of the business, and in Brazil much of that is about the relationships with the public sector. “The

Having a blockbuster drug simply isn’t enough anymore

Government are recommending partnerships to enable the transfer of technology and to develop innovative products, not blockbusters but major products that are valuable for the public health system.” He says that developing and growing partnerships with Government is definitely something that many of the pharma companies don’t really manage as well as they could and this represents a great opportunity. “The Government can give you the chance to have exclusivity for say five years on a product and at the moment only some of the local companies are taking full advantage of this, not the multinationals as much which means the local companies are growing well”. So well in fact that local pharma companies now represent half of the top 10 pharma businesses in Brazil.

The other factor he has seen as being critical is collaboration with other pharma or related companies. “Having a blockbuster drug simply isn’t enough anymore”.

The Brazilian market is predicted to grow 10 to 12 percent each year for the next 5 years and much of this growth is in generics and novel pharmaceuticals. Companies need to be aware of other firms who are developing drugs and then collaborate with them to stay connected to the industry. “With generics the level of market discounts is higher and there are more competitors. One way to overcome this is to bring more products to the market. Pharma needs to be ready to make deals with each other.”

Developing an effective sales force

Recently released IMS research concludes that one of the most important critical sales success factors in the Brazilian pharma industry is to participate in multiple channels, including retail, OTC and the public system, and Grzelak is inclined to agree. Essentially, it is important to diversify. Being highly effective in terms of management and productivity of sales force is another area that Grzelak has seen as being of increasing value as resources are limited and this is a competitive environment: “As margins decrease, our sales teams need to be more effective.” From his perspectiveSales Force Management and Sales Force Effectiveness are key to achieving this for pharma companies engaged in the Brazilian market. He points out that resources are limited so maintaining profitability is essential.

In addition, taxes in Brazil are high, if you hire a sales rep you are required to pay the same amount to the government. “This means you have to have an effective, productive and small sales force.” He continues that one of the most useful ways to get the best out of resources is to undertake a sales force effectiveness study and focus on the main cities.

A successful sales executive is one that has a strong behavioral compatibility with these types of personalities

Grzelak says the central qualities for sales executives in Brazil today are to be strategy driven and have a real ability to deal with multiple channels. They also need to be able to know how to deal with the local people. “Brazilians are Latin people, they love to talk. A successful sales executive is one that has a strong behavioral compatibility with these types of personalities”. Yet he believes that they must also be aggressive and a risk taker to grow a business in such a competitive market, with the flexibility to work with different clients and payers and in various markets.

At the end of the day it is about knowing the market and looking to the future. Grzelaksays that Glenmark fosters such attributes which he really values: “This is a company that allows us to make deals, to grow organically and to forge partnerships where needed, ultimately giving us the flexibility we need to grow the business”. Which they have done, very successfully and doubled the Brazilian branch in the last three years.

As he points out, in order to thrive in the Brazilian market it is really important to know to work and engage in multiple channels, build relationships and to pay attention to profitability, which is not necessarily about market share. “Successful sales in Brazil comes down to an ability to be flexible and talented in many facets of sales and marketing, plus have the ability to deal with the government to make those valuable and long-term deals.”



Market Access Mexico

Mar 28, 2012 - Mar 29, 2012, Mexico City, Mexico

Market Access Mexico