ELITE Strategist Jerry Valentine of AstraZeneca

Jerry Valentine

Business Development New Technologies Director

AstraZeneca

Updating the Outdated Commercial Model

In February 2017, Jerry Valentine took on a new role at AstraZeneca with the goal of updating an outdated commercial model to create new opportunities to see customers in the evolving healthcare system, and ultimately, help bring AstraZeneca medicines to more patients who need them.

Still in the early stage of discovery, his focus is on creating HCP-facing initiatives that are measurable “experiments” with strong ROI and the potential to scale further after a successful pilot “experiment.” He is currently evaluating projects involving electronic health records (EHRs), HCP social platforms, app development, and other innovative opportunities to connect with HCPs, and ultimately patients.

While Jerry is just getting started, he has a history of delivering results. Earlier in his career as Co-Commercial Brand Leader and Finance Director of a multi-billion dollar portfolio at AstraZeneca, he beat his budgets in 2014 and 2015 leading to the President’s Award in both years. According to Jerry, in 2014 the company was anticipating lower demand for certain products based on where they were in their lifecycle, so the company was ready to scale back on manufacturing. Instead, Jerry and team worked with leadership to build an ongoing contingency plan and inventory that afforded the company the opportunity to address subsequent market demand, which was higher than originally anticipated.

Then in 2015, Jerry and team continued with the best post-LOE performance in pharma history. This was accomplished through many strategic levers on the payer, pharmacy, patient, and HCP-level that included payer analysis tools, understanding the pharmacy environment, launching a branded Facebook community, and leveraging existing AstraZeneca sales forces.

“I do not look at myself as an employee,” Jerry explains as the secret to his success. “I look at myself as a business that is in business with AstraZeneca. As a result, it is important for me to contribute to generating shareholder value, which enables AstraZeneca to invest in new scientific opportunities that patients could benefit from. This mindset forces me to continue to learn, seek new opportunities, adapt, invest in myself, and take chances.”

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