Isabelle Mongeau says it was serendipity that led to her first pharma job—in the land down under—16 years ago. After graduating in business management at the Université du Québec in Montreal, her post-university travels would take her to Melbourne, Australia, where she would carefully test the waters of an entry level marketing position at Servier. That was in the late ‘80s and “the sexy marketing jobs” were with Coca-Cola, Club Med, and Air Canada, laughs Mongeau. “The pharmaceutical industry was very far from my mind.”

Six months later, however, she admits to being smitten by the industry after working on the launch of the anti-obesity drug Redux. It was a “neat” experience, says Mongeau, referring to the “very preliminary attempts at direct-to-consumer advertising” of the marketing campaign.

By 1991 and back home in Quebec, Mongeau would expand her career at Servier’s Laval office, as a rep and five years later, product manager with a portfolio consisting of Redux and Ponderal for which she would help to develop and implement a Canadian marketing strategy. After eight years at Servier’s Quebec headquarters, the world of advertising seemed a natural move for Mongeau, so she swapped the industry side for a position as Account Director heading a small pharma division of Allard Johnson Communications in Montreal.

By 1998, Mongeau would start hitting her stride, landing her first big account, Viagra CHE, for which she would be charged with supporting Pfizer in the development and execution of educational strategies to prepare the market for launch. Turning impotence, a lifestyle issue surrounded by media hype, into erectile dysfunction, a legitimate medical condition, was a milestone she calls one of her most significant achievements. Indeed, by the millenium, she would parlay her experience with Viagra into a position with Pfizer Canada Inc., as Product Manager and subsequently Senior Product Manager for the brand.

“The Viagra days were probably the most fun,” recalls Mongeau. “This drug was groundbreaking in every sense of the word. We completely developed the disease for the market, and pushed direct-to-consumer to new frontiers, developing very interesting partnerships with various professional associations, and the team was absolutely amazing.” Ironically, she laughs, at one point the Viagra brand team was almost exclusively women.

From 2004 to 2006, Mongeau assumed the role of Senior Product Manager and Therapeutic Team Leader, implementing strategic and tactical plans for the respiratory drug Spiriva and the anti-infectives Vfend and Zyvoxam. She would also contribute to new product development for Eraxis and Zeven.

Today, as Pfizer Canada’s Director of Continuing Health Education and Development, Mongeau is happy to be back to “my first love.” She appreciates working with a dynamic group collaborating on partnerships with academia and other stakeholders: “It’s quality work that really fulfills a need and truly supports all our customers while also supporting the different therapeutic fields in which our corporation is involved. I’m happy to be part of it because it’s a hub right now, between sales, marketing, and healthcare reform. It really creates an opportunity to network with a much broader audience than in the past, which is a lot of fun.”

She perceives that the changing healthcare environment is a challenge for everybody, but maintains, “Change can be motivating and [it] pushes me to go out of my way in order to make things good for my team, for the organization, and for the customer. Change creates opportunities, so rather than feel destabilized by change, I’m energized by it.”

En français