Havas Health Q &A with The Pharma Sourcing Blog and Ed Stapor

Ed Stapor is a Partner and CEO Europe of Havas Health the umbrella company for the Euro
RSCG Life and Health4Brands networks. In this Q & A he will discuss his ideas on the changes
to the Pharmaceutical Industry and how it will affect the future.

1. Please introduce your company and what your role encompasses

As Partner and CEO of Europe, I am responsible for the European operations of our robust
network which includes more than 2,000 employees in 60 agencies in over 50 countries - Havas
Worldwide Health is a global healthcare company with presence in all major regions and markets
and owns the Euro RSCG Life and Health4Brands networks.  Our network has a uniquely
unified model, with all disciplines (medical, strategy, managed markets, medical education,
digital, DTP/DTC, advertising, and PR) inside one agency.  We deliver channel-agnostic
solutions that are right for our clients’ brands without the traditional silos and intra-agency
complexities.

We believe in the importance of fresh thinking and challenging the status quo.


2. What are the key regulatory changes coming into play, and how do you think they will 
affect pharmaceutical procurement?


There are many Regulatory governing bodies across the globe. With the very term “Regulatory
Affairs” comes the responsibility to oversee how the world ensures that the safety, efficacy and
overall quality of drugs.   They make sure drugs are in line with legal requirements, this way
pharma companies can market safe and efficacious products in the interests of public health.  As
long as pharma companies continue to develop drugs, guidelines and standards regarding the
regulatory environment will need to be consistently revisited.

The regulatory environment impacts the path of clinical trials, the marketing and distributing of
products, post-marketing changes, drugs pricing and insurance coverage, practice  insurance laws
and more…

We saw regulations becoming more stringent in the US a few years back- possibly the first sign
that the industry would see change.  A most recent example is the UK’s implementation of the
very strict Bribery Act last year.  We have seen increased timelines for the assessment of drug
approvals with both the FDA and NICE.  We have seen restrictions on what a company can
provide a physician both in terms of payment for speaking engagements/consulting and
restrictions on promoting brand awareness through premiums – likely leading to the need for
complete transparency on promotional spend on stakeholders.

If you would like to read this Q & A in full please follow this link www.procurecon-pharma.com