Dr. Hande Demirdere, General Manager of Pierre Fabre İlaç Türkiye

We conducted a pleasant interview with Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals Turkey General Director Dr. Hande Demirdere, in which we discussed the technologies the company uses, its targets for coming years, and the advantages it will bring to the sector.

Could you tell us about yourself and your professional background?

I graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine in 1997 and completed my specialty training in Internal Medicine at Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicine in 2001. After obtaining my specialty, I began working as a Medical Director at an international pharmaceutical company. Over the following 18 years, I held management roles in Turkey and foreign markets covering countries such as Russia, Singapore, and India. For the past three years, I have been working as General Director of Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals Turkey.

Could you provide information about your company's areas of operation and organizational structure in Turkey?

Pierre Fabre, founded in 1962 by pharmacist and botanist Mr. Pierre Fabre, today operates in complementary fields under the headings of Pharmaceuticals, Dermo-cosmetics, and Consumer Health with more than 13,000 employees in 130 countries. Pierre Fabre Laboratories serves as the second-largest independent private pharmaceutical laboratory in Europe. The group operates in Turkey through "Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals" and "Pierre Fabre Dermo-cosmetics" companies. Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals comprises three main groups: Oncology, Essential Products, and Oral and Dental Health, while Pierre Fabre Dermo-cosmetics includes dermo-cosmetic products as well as pharmaceutical treatments in the dermatology field. The group allocates 15% of annual pharmaceutical profits to Research and Development work conducted in the fields of Oncology, Dermatology, and Consumer Health. Pierre Fabre operates with the awareness that all kinds of beauty must first come from healthy products, as reflected in its slogan "From Health to Beauty". Furthermore, by virtue of its botanist identity, it develops its products through the most natural methods. With its patient and consumer-centered approach, all of its products, including oral health and dermo-cosmetics, are sold only upon specialist recommendation and exclusively in pharmacies. It is the first and only company worldwide operating with this approach. Pierre Fabre's 2018 turnover was EUR 2.3 billion. Pierre Fabre Turkey expanded its Essential Products group in 2017 with a new product introduced following a global agreement with Pfizer, expanding its treatment areas reached and increasing the number of employees engaged in product promotion. Despite 2017 being a year of transformation and adaptation for Pierre Fabre Turkey, it achieved the distinction of ranking among the three fastest-growing countries among Pierre Fabre countries globally. Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals Turkey conducts product promotion through three separate groups: Essential Products, Oncology, and Consumer Health.

What are the factors that distinguish Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals from other companies?

Our founder, Mr. Pierre Fabre, transformed the company into a foundation company recognized and supported by the French government, with the aim of increasing access to quality healthcare and pharmaceuticals, particularly in developing countries worldwide. The Pierre Fabre Foundation operates 32 programs in 17 countries to provide quality healthcare services. With his identity as a pharmacist and botanist, Mr. Pierre Fabre made it his mission to create healing from plants. For example, products used in chemotherapy treatment, also found in our country, were developed from Algerian violets. These natural active ingredients help provide a tolerable adverse effect profile even in chemotherapeutic products. Pierre Fabre possesses the world's most comprehensive botanical garden containing 1,200 different plant species. Oral health products derived from herbal products likewise possess an innovative and continuously developing broad range. For example, in addition to fluoride-free toothpastes important to human health, children's toothpastes through Pierre Fabre's patented Fluorinol substance provide effective protection against cavities. Through its patient and consumer-centered approach, all Pierre Fabre products, including oral health and dermo-cosmetics, are recommended only by specialists and sold exclusively in pharmacies. In this respect, it is the first and only company worldwide with this approach. Specifically for Turkey, it is an international pharmaceutical company in growth trend and investment focus, unlike many other pharmaceutical companies.

How do you define your quality policy in order to maintain the highest quality in your products?

Quality is a criterion we never compromise on. All of our products are manufactured in France and imported, undergoing detailed controls at every stage. Pierre Fabre Turkey, like the organization applies in all countries where it exists globally, provides the most natural products to consumers at the highest quality and under the most appropriate conditions. For this, we implement very strict monitoring procedures.

On what criteria do you determine your domestic and foreign sales volume?

When it comes to sales volume and revenues earned, as Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals Turkey, our primary objective is to work to improve patients' quality of life and enable access to treatments, particularly with products used in bladder cancer and malignant melanoma treatment. In addition, we are a company in growth trend and investment focus. As Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals, operating in complementary fields under the headings of Pharmaceuticals, Dermo-cosmetics, and Consumer Health, we will continue our growth by continuing our investments in Turkey with both our current portfolio and new products to be added in the future.

Could you share your thoughts on Research and Development with our readers?

Pierre Fabre will continue Research and Development work with a presence in a very broad therapeutic field. Its continuously evolving portfolio in Consumer Health, Oncology, Essential Products, and Oral Dental Health requires working to improve the quality of life of patients and consumers.

How do you evaluate the advantages of the initiatives and investments you have made in the Research and Development field?

Thanks to our extensive Research and Development investments, we have a constantly expanding and developing portfolio. This means the continuity of Pierre Fabre and therefore the increase in good health and beauty resulting from our foundation projects running worldwide. I am proud of this. For example, following the Array BioPharma agreement signed globally this year, a significant portion of the Research and Development budget was allocated for clinical studies of a drug used in metastatic malignant melanoma treatment. Clinical studies continue worldwide for malignant melanoma as well as colorectal cancer. This constitutes a vital step for the treatment of the relevant cancers and also the revenues from the sales of these drugs finance the foundation's projects. If we mention one of those projects, skin cancer protection and treatment is being conducted across Africa.

What are the Research and Development studies you have carried out at your company?

The group allocates 15% of annual pharmaceutical profits to Research and Development work conducted in the fields of Oncology, Dermatology, and Consumer Health. Pierre Fabre operates with the awareness that all kinds of beauty must first come from healthy products, as reflected in its slogan "From Health to Beauty", and develops its products through the most natural methods with its botanist identity. On the new product front, we have intense efforts particularly directed toward consumer health. Our Research and Development team, which does very successful work in this field, has developed products that are first in the world. On the other hand, Pierre Fabre is undertaking intense work in the field of Oncology. Following the global agreement made with Array BioPharma this year, we have allocated a very significant budget to clinical studies of a drug used in metastatic malignant melanoma treatment, and this drug has received FDA and subsequently European approvals. Clinical studies continue worldwide for malignant melanoma as well as colorectal cancer. As Pierre Fabre Turkey, we have begun licensing procedures and wish to make the drug available to patients in our country as soon as possible.

What investments do you plan to make in Research and Development in the coming years? How do you evaluate the advantages of these investments as Pierre Fabre?

Pierre Fabre pledges to continue worldwide Research and Development investments and scientific studies, continuously expanding the product portfolio that brings health and beauty to patients' and consumers' lives from its founding to today.

How do you evaluate the importance of technology? What is the importance of technology for your products?

Pierre Fabre works to reach health and beauty most efficiently and quickly in all fields it serves, and in this direction uses the most current technology. For example, Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals Turkey, through unconditional scientific support recently provided to the Turkish Continence Association, assists in patient monitoring through the Bladder Diary Application it developed, and contributes to scientific progress in different specialty fields through comprehensive electronic resources via the Ecole Fabre website. Pierre Fabre also communicates with consumers through various digital platforms, drawing attention with increasingly rising visibility in the field of digital marketing. In addition to these, the Pierre Fabre Group, in its capacity as a foundation, reaches specialist doctor support from developed countries to patients through technology via an e-health application it has developed to contribute to reducing diagnostic and treatment deficiencies in developing countries. The foundation provides comprehensive services ranging from education to patient monitoring and disease information through this application.

What are the latest products you have introduced to the market and what technology and features are they equipped with?

We have intense efforts on new consumer health products. We have a very successful Research and Development team for consumer health and the innovative products they have developed are first in the world. We plan to strengthen and develop our pharmaceutical experience with new consumer health products. For example, urinary tract infection is an important health problem affecting approximately 150 million people worldwide, occurring in one in every three women. This problem progresses in a recurring manner in 20% of the female population. Urisanol Cranberry Capsule, containing cranberry fruit's main active substance of 36 mg Pro-Anthocyanidins, ranked among phytotherapy products, and Urisanol Flash, our first-of-its-kind product in Turkey containing five different essential oils in addition to this cranberry content, are both recognized by doctors, pharmacists, and patients as powerful support from nature. Additionally, we have brought to our country "Elgydium Clinic Xeroleave Oral Dryness Spray" falling under the scope of medical devices, which can be used for oral dryness problems seen in elderly patients, diabetic patients, and as a side effect of many drugs, and we conducted its introduction recently. Our goal is to ensure that all physicians are aware of these products that benefit patients.

Pierre Fabre carries out important work through social responsibility projects; could you provide information about your activities?

As Pierre Fabre, we believe we differentiate ourselves in the sector with our broad portfolio of natural products, the importance we give to expertise, our consumer protection approach, and the social responsibility projects we carry out worldwide as a foundation company. As Pierre Fabre, we take great pride and satisfaction in being part of a group that supports the development of new products with a portion of our earnings and, by virtue of its foundation status, produces sustainable projects for the public good. The Pierre Fabre Foundation, transformed into a foundation company recognized and supported by the French government with the aim of increasing access to quality healthcare and pharmaceuticals particularly in developing countries worldwide, currently implements 32 separate social responsibility projects in 17 countries. The foundation, which pioneered the establishment of 97 hospitals and health centers in developing countries, has been active for 20 years. The Pierre Fabre Foundation provides free healthcare services particularly in African countries where healthcare services and pharmaceutical access are limited. Dr. Denis Mukwege, supported under the social responsibility work of the Pierre Fabre Foundation, was deemed worthy of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. Denis Mukwege, known as the "Man Who Heals Women" for his successful surgeries on women victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, pioneered the treatment of more than 50,000 women victims of sexual violence with support from the Pierre Fabre Foundation. The foundation will continue to provide financial support for two years ahead to cover all medical treatment processes of victim women in hospitals founded by Dr. Denis Mukwege. Within the framework of our patient-centered work, we will launch a social responsibility project in Turkey in the coming period; our work in this direction continues.

What is the importance of environmental, occupational health and safety policy for you? What measures have you taken and what activities have you carried out in this regard during production?

Within the scope of the "Green Mission" project Pierre Fabre launched worldwide, we also work to protect the environment, produce projects, and contribute in Turkey. Through the Aegean Forest Foundation, we donated one sapling for each of our employees to the Atatürk Grove established. As Pierre Fabre Turkey, "Respect for People" is one of the values we cherish most. Our employees are very important to us. The main principle we adopt regarding occupational health and safety is to protect all our employees according to the zero accident principle and produce proactive solutions to ensure they have no potential for accidents whatsoever. We have an occupational safety specialist in Turkey and through their guidance, we ensure all our employees receive occupational safety training once a year.