  “I always had an interest in epidemiology, and I realized there was so little we knew about population health,” she says, adding she later applied for graduate studies in epidemiology. Travelling in Europe and Asia after graduation left her with little savings to pursue a master’s degree, so she deferred her studies and decided to seek full-time employment. She applied for a job as a statistical assistant at Boehringer Ingelheim Canada Ltd. and got the position. She pursued graduate level studies in epidemiology during that time. From the medical department, Brown moved to regulatory affairs at B-I. She then took a position at Connaught Laboratories in international regulatory affairs, where she built a team of regulatory professionals that served all international markets. At the same time, she began an executive master’s degree in business administration at the University of Western Ontario, as increased exposure to international affiliates, agents, and markets had piqued her interest in the commercial side of the business. Her move to Serono Canada Inc., which later became EMD Serono Canada Inc., based in Mississauga, Ont., took place in 1992 when she got hired as the company’s director of regulatory affairs and research. She completed her executive MBA while at Serono and moved in a new career direction at that time, moving to the sales and marketing division. She became marketing director, ran a business unit, and in 1999, was promoted to Canadian General Manager. In 2000, EMD Serono gave her a special assignment: launch a new business unit in the US. That project took her to Boston for more than three years. She travelled back and forth to see her family during that time. “For me, the US market experience was fantastic,” notes Brown. “It was a very challenging time on a personal level, but it was intensely stimulating on a professional level.” Brown observes that there are unique features of the US healthcare system, such as dealing with managed care organizations, and specialty pharmacies. Now as Canadian President/Managing Director, Brown is very proud of the company’s latest five year strategic plan, entitled ‘THRIVE’, a strategic vision of how to achieve growth while ensuring that the patient is at the center of the continuum of care. “The patients we serve tend to be patients who are on therapies for the rest of their lives, and they are almost all taking injectable therapies,” explains Brown. “We have made a conscious decision to focus on the holistic experience of patients and how we can contribute to improving their quality of life, which goes beyond providing safe and effective drugs. It really speaks to the issues we face in Canada today with fractionation of care. We have decided that if we pursue this course, that the business and profits will follow.” In addition to developing patient adherence programs, the firm is taking a comprehensive approach to optimizing care through conducting information programs for patients, their caregivers, and healthcare professionals, to supply them with more knowledge about the disease state of patients, dispatching nurses to homes to assist patients with the administration of injection therapies, and an in-house call center patients can contact if they have questions about their care. “We help them to connect the dots in the healthcare environment because getting your drug is one-tenth of the battle,” says Brown. “We try to help them navigate the healthcare system and point them to where they can find and access services.” En français |