Pfizer CentreOne is a leading supplier of speciality active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), with a worldwide manufacturing network comprising more than 35 sites across six continents. Backed by Pfizer resources, the company delivers technical expertise, global regulatory support and long-term supply.
In August, the company appointed Andrew Moore as its new CEO. Moore, an accomplished healthcare leader, innovator and entrepreneur, began his healthcare career in sales and marketing, including seven years at Pfizer, also holding management roles at AmerisourceBergen and McKesson.
Could you tell us about your career?
A key theme throughout my career has been the diversity of experience. I have held roles in sales, marketing and management in large global organisations as well as small companies, and, most recently, a start-up. In addition to my corporate career, I have served in the US Army and have been awarded the Bronze Star for combat experience in Iraq Desert Storm. As I have lived in many countries and gotten to know their cultures, I have been able to work with a variety of people under a variety of circumstances. I have always pushed myself to be better and learn as much as I could.
I believe that the diversity of my experience has made me into the leader I am today, resilient, agile, and invested in people. When challenges arise, and they often do, I think back to the lessons I learned on my journey and use them as my source of strength. I am fast and decisive when the pressure is high but reach decisions through consensus when there is time to reflect. I firmly believe that my team is my biggest asset and that my role is to enable their success and full potential.
What are you most looking forward to in your new role at Pfizer CentreOne?
Many things excite me about the future, but I would like to focus on the main two. My primary motivation, like that of my colleagues, is delivering breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. This purpose unites everyone at Pfizer CentreOne and inspires me and my team to bring our best selves to work every day. This is also the purpose we share with our customers. Every partnership starts with the patient in mind, and we think of our customers’ patients as our own. When I first joined the organisation, I was deeply moved to share a story about a significant patient in my life. I spoke about my sister Lirissa who was diagnosed with diabetes as a young adult and had to make vital changes to her lifestyle to cope with the disease. Lirissa’s strength, optimism and the desire to live her best life, despite these significant health challenges, inspire me every day.
My other primary source of excitement is the prospect of continuing to deliver value to our customers by developing strategic long-term partnerships. We believe that through intelligent collaboration with our customers, we can tackle some of the toughest drug development challenges and build a healthier world. After the first few months on the job, it is clear to me that Pfizer CentreOne’s team is as strong as ever. We are clear about our strategy and priorities. We work in close alignment with Pfizer Global Supply and other internal teams. We have the trust of our customers, and we are ready to deliver on our commitments and to grow the business.
How do you think the Covid-19 pandemic will affect and reshape the drug development landscape?
The pandemic has had a profound effect on our industry. For one, we have become a lot more collaborative, guided by the common aspiration to find a cure and relieve the suffering of affected patients. We have seen industry leaders join forces to deliver vaccines and treatments. A good example is the Pfizer Five-Point Plan to battle Covid-19 within which we make our manufacturing capacities available to enable other companies to bring lifesaving breakthroughs to patients.
The other important lesson we learned is how to work with greater speed and agility. The timelines for developing Covid-19 vaccine are truly unprecedented. They were made possible, in large part, by removing bureaucratic barriers and internal silos, and encouraging teams to be more agile and entrepreneurial in their work. I hope that we maintain this momentum and accelerate the timelines for developing cures to the world’s most significant diseases.
The final aspect that stands out to me is the positive impact on the perception of science and the pharma industry. At Pfizer, we have a hashtag #ScienceWillWin, which reflects our core belief in the scientific process. With so many populist movements around the world, science has been under attack, and I hope that this renewed confidence in the power of science will persevere and attract more young people to join the field. The pharmaceutical industry has once again regained public trust and confidence thanks to our transparent communication and commitment to the new ways of working. I hope that the positive opinion of the industry will only continue to grow.
Are you able to share some top priorities and goals for the Pfizer CentreOne organisation over the coming months?
Our priority is the growth of core technology platforms by providing end-to-end solutions from early-stage clinical development and manufacturing to commercial production and lifecycle management. We have a great reputation for our work from Phase II through approval and now is the right time to offer customers the benefit of our experience in earlier development phases. The earlier we can influence formulation and synthesis routes, the more successful our customers’ products will be. This is the basis of a long-term, sustainable partnership.
We also continue to prioritise being the partner of choice and maintaining our customer experience promise so that we can be known for our service. We recently reimagined our account management system to provide more support to our customers and give them a single point of accountability. Our teams are also creating a vision of success with our customers through shared real-time KPIs. We continuously benchmark ourselves against other industries and draw inspiration from best-in-class examples so that we can innovate and grow.
Success can be measured in many ways, what in the coming months will spell success for Pfizer CentreOne and its customers?
The most important measure of success is whether we have helped our customers make meaningful progress in delivering medicines to their patients. Millions of patients around the world depend on the medicines we help manufacture, and we take this responsibility very seriously.
Next to patient impact is our ability to deliver against customer expectations. We are about to launch the Voice of Customer programme, which will allow us to listen real-time to the feedback of our customers and optimise our performance. I am also meeting with our customers to learn first-hand about how we can strengthen our partnerships.
Lastly, the other measure that matters a lot to me is the team culture. It is important to me that my team feel empowered to do their best work and improve our processes. I am confident that strong team culture is the key to our continued growth and solid business results.
Tell us something that people do not know about you.
I am a wine enthusiast and a collector. For me, wine is one of the ways to connect with people, their cultures and stories. Producing wine takes patience, dedication and vision, and it is a metaphor for how to approach everything in life.
