Frances Pascavage
Associate Director, Adjuvant Indication Lead
Novartis Oncology
Keep Calm and Stay Prepared
“Frances Pascavage is a perfectionist,” says Diane Vinch, EVP, Managing Director, Concentric Health Experience. “She has a keen sense of thoroughly understanding the needs of the brand and has the logic and intellect to deliver comprehensive marketing initiatives based on them. She has a ‘whatever it takes’ attitude and pushes the envelope while staying compliant.”
Previously, Frances spent extensive time as a sales representative, which also aids in her ability to launch brands by providing a keen understanding of the needs of the field, as well as what would be effective, useful, and utilized. Additionally, she has a strong science background and even served as a KOL melanoma expert, which gives her the ability to merge medical with marketing.
“She has a beautiful way of expressing the clinical aspects of a drug,” Vinch adds, “and digging for the ‘pearls’ she can expose through intelligent and creative marketing.”
All of those traits have served her well in her current position as the adjuvant launch lead for a melanoma treatment. But, this is not a task that Frances has approached alone. She says one of the keys to leading and making this launch successful was putting together a 25-member team. Another important step was preparation to ensure they had the items needed on Day 0, 1, 10, and so forth. Of course, things don’t always go to plan. That is when you need to know how to reprioritize and adjust without panicking.
“Remaining calm, while internally worrying, is a skill I learned during this process,” Frances says. “This allowed the team to remain cohesive.”
And the team needed to stay on point in order to accomplish its goal. They had to prepare for a full launch (market research, new message testing, new campaign, interim PI-based visual aids and reprint carriers, launch meeting, new specialty added to call list) in only five months.
“We hurried but the quality had to be perfect and reflect the importance of this launch to our oncology franchise,” Frances explains. “This was a feat that required precision and team collaboration. A great team was key and proper delegation made it happen.”
