We had an enjoyable interview with Pierre Fabre Ilac Turkey General Manager Mrs. Dr. Hande Demirdere about the technologies used by the company, their targets in the coming years and the advantages they will bring to the sector.
Could you tell us about yourself, your professional background?
I graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine in 1997 and completed my residency at Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Internal Medicine Department in 2001. After my residency, I started to work as a Medical Director of an international pharmaceutical company.
For the following 18 years, I assumed executive roles Turkey and in foreign markets including countries such as Russia, Singapore, and India. I have been working as the General Manager of Pierre Fabre Ilac Turkey for the last three years.
Could you give us some information on the areas of activity of your company and its organization in Turkey?
Founded in 1962 by a pharmacist and botanist Monsieur Pierre Fabre, Pierre Fabre company today operates in 130 countries with more than 13,000 employees in complementary fields under the titles of Drug, Dermo-cosmetic and Consumer Health Care.
Pierre Fabre Laboratories serve as the second largest independent private pharmaceutical laboratory in Europe. The group operates in Turkey through «Pierre Fabre Ilac» and «Pierre Fabre Dermokozmetik» companies.
Pierre Fabre Ilac has three main groups, which are Oncology, Basic Products and Oral and Dental Health group, and Pierre Fabre Dermokozmetik has pharmaceutical treatments for dermatology field as well as dermo-cosmetic products.
The Group allocates 15% of its profits to R&D activities in Oncology, Dermatology, and Consumer Health Care fields every year. As reflected by the slogan “From Health to Beauty”, Pierre Fabre operates with the awareness that every kind of beauty must go through healthy products. In addition, thanks to its identity as a botanist, it develops its products in the most natural way.
With its patient and consumer oriented approach, all products including oral health and dermo-cosmetic are sold only with the recommendation of experts and only in pharmacies. It is the first and only company operating with this approach all over the world.
Pierre Fabre’s turnover was 2.3 billion Euro in 2018. Pierre Fabre Turkey expanded its Basic Products group with a new product whose promotion right was obtained as per a global agreement with Pfizer in 2017 and has increased the number of employees engaged in the promotion of products by expanding areas of treatment with this agreement.
Although 2017 was a transformation and adaptation year for Pierre Fabre Turkey, the company succeeded in becoming one of the top three countries with the highest growth rate among Pierre Fabre countries around the world.
Pierre Fabre Ilac Turkey carries out product promotions in three separate groups: Basic products, Oncology and Consumer Health Care.
What distinguishes Pierre Fabre Ilac company from the others?
Our founder, Monsieur Pierre Fabre, has transformed our company into a foundation company that is recognized and supported by the French government in order to increase the access to quality health care and medicines in the world, especially in developing countries.
Pierre Fabre Foundation carries out 32 programs in 17 countries to provide quality health care. Being a pharmacist and botanist, Monsieur Pierre Fabre took creating remedies from plants as his mission. For example, the products used in chemotherapy treatment also in our country have been developed from Vinca.
These natural active ingredients help the tolerable side-effect profile, even in chemotherapeutic products. Pierre Fabre has the most extensive botanical garden in the world with 1,200 different species of plants.
The oral health products produced from herbal products also have a wide innovative product range which is continuously developed. For example, in addition to the fluoride-free toothpaste, which is important for human health, children’s toothpaste provides effective protection against cavities thanks to Pierre Fabre’s patented substance Fluorinol.
Thanks to the patient and consumer-oriented approach, all Pierre Fabre products, including oral health and dermo-cosmetics, are only recommended by experts and sold only in pharmacies.
In this sense, it is the first and only company in the world to adopt this approach. Specifically in Turkey, unlike many pharmaceutical companies, it is an international pharmaceutical company in a growth trend with a focus on investment.
How do you define your quality policy to maximize the quality of your products?
Quality is an uncompromisable criterion for us. All of our products are manufactured in and imported from France and undergo detailed checks at every stage.
Pierre Fabre Turkey provides the consumers with the most natural products in the highest quality and the most favorable conditions as is the practice in all countries where the organization has a presence globally. Very strict follow-up procedures are applied to this end.
Which criteria do you use to determine your domestic and international sales volume?
In terms of sales volume and revenues acquired, our primary goal as Pierre Fabre Ilac Turkey is working on ensuring that the quality of life of the patients is increased and they can access the treatments, primarily for the products used in the treatment of bladder cancer and malignant melanoma.
Additionally, we are a company in a growth trend and having a focus on investment. As Pierre Fabre Ilac, operating in complementary fields under harmaceuticals,
Dermocosmetics, and Consumer Health Care titles, we will continue our investments in Turkey and maintain our growth with both our current portfolio and the new products to be added in the future.
Could you share your thoughts on R&D with our readers?
Pierre Fabre will continue its R&D studies in a wide range of therapeutic fields. This is required for working on improving the quality of life of patients and consumers with its constantly developing portfolio in the areas of Consumer Health Care, Oncology, Basic Products, and Oral Dental Health.
How do you see the advantages of your initiatives and investments in the R&D field?
Thanks to our extensive R&D investments, we have an ever-expanding and developing portfolio. This naturally translates into the continuity of Pierre Fabre and hence the increase in goodness, health, and beauty from our foundation projects carried out throughout the world.
I am proud of that. For example, following the Array BioPharma agreement signed globally this year, we allocated a significant amount of R&D budget for the clinical trials of the drug used for the treatment of metastatic malignant melanoma.
In addition to malignant melanoma, we continue the clinical trials for colorectal cancer in the world.
This is a vital step in the treatment of the relevant cancers and the funds obtained from the sales of these drugs provide funds for the projects of the foundation. One of those projects is protection against and treatment of skin cancer throughout Africa.
What are the R&D studies that you have carried out in your company?
The Group allocates 15% of its profits to R&D activities in Oncology, Dermatology, and Consumer Health Care fields every year.
As reflected with the slogan “From Health to Beauty”, Pierre Fabre develops all its products with its botanist identity using the most natural methods with the awareness that all beauty should come from healthy products. On our new product side, we have focused our studies particularly on consumer health care.
Our R&D team with a very successful history in this field has developed products that are the firsts in the world. On the other hand, Pierre Fabre carries out intensive studies in the oncology field.
Upon the global agreement with Array BioPharma this year, we have allocated a very significant budget for the clinical trials of the drug used in the treatment of metastatic malignant melanoma and we have received the FDA and European approvals for this drug.
In addition to malignant melanoma, we continue the clinical trials for colorectal cancer in the world. We, as Pierre Fabre Turkey, have also started the licensing process, and we want to provide this drug to the patients in our country as soon as possible.
What are your R&D investment plans for the coming years? As Pierre Fabre, what do you think about the advantages of these investments?
Pierre Fabre promises to continue its R&D investments and scientific studies all over the world and expands the product portfolio that adds health and beauty to the lives of patients and consumers from the very day of its foundation.
What are your views on the importance of technology? What is the importance of technology for your products?
Pierre Fabre works to deliver health and beauty to its target in the most efficient and fast way in all areas it serves, and to this end, uses the most cutting edge technology.
For example, Pierre Fabre Ilac Turkey facilitates the follow-up of the patients with the Bladder Diary Application recently developed thanks to the unconditional scientific support provided to Turkish Continence Society and contributes to the scientific progress through Ecole Fabre website in various areas of expertise with its extensive electronic resources.
Pierre Fabre communicates with the consumers on various digital platforms, thus drawing attention with increasing visibility in digital marketing. In addition to these,
Pierre Fabre Group with its foundation identity provides attending physician support in the developed countries to the patient using technology thanks to its e-health application developed in order to contribute to reducing the lack of diagnosis and treatment in developing countries.
With this application, the Foundation offers a wide range of services from education to patient follow-up and information about diseases.
Which technology and features are provided with the latest product you have introduced to the market?
We continue out intensive studies on new products for consumer health care. We have a very successful R&D team for consumer health and their innovative products are firsts in the world. We plan on enhancing and developing our pharmaceutical experience with new products in consumer health care.
Within this scope, for example, urinary tract infection is an important health problem affecting approximately 150 million people in the world and seen in one of every 3 women. This problem is progressing on a recurring course in 20% of the female population.
Included in the Phytotherapy product range, our product Urisanol Flash, which is a first in Turkey with a cranberry combination containing Urisanol Cranberry
Capsules with 36 mg Pro-Anthocyanidin content, the main active ingredient of cranberry fruit, and with 5 different essential oils in addition to this Cranberry content, is regarded as a strong help from the nature by both doctors and pharmacists.
Furthermore, we have brought “Elgydium Clinic Xeroleave Spray” which can be used to alleviate the oral dryness problem observed in elderly patients, patients with diabetes and occurring as a side effect of many drugs to our country and we have recently promoted it.
Our goal is to ensure that all physicians are aware of our products that are beneficial to the patients.
Pierre Fabre carries out important works with social responsibility projects, can you give us some information on your works?
As Pierre Fabre, we believe that we have differentiated in the sector with our wide portfolio of natural products, the emphasis we place on expertise, our approach to protecting the consumers and our social responsibility projects we realize all over the world as a foundation company.
As Pierre Fabre, we are honored and glad to both support the development of new products and to be a part of a group that produces sustainable projects for the benefit of the society through foundation status with part of our gains.
Pierre Fabre Foundation, which has transformed into a foundation company recognized and supported by the French government in order to increase the quality of health care and access to medicine, especially in the developing countries, currently has 32 ongoing social responsibility projects in 17 countries.
The foundation, which led the establishment of 97 hospitals and health care centers in developing countries, has been operating for 20 years. The Pierre Fabre Foundation provides free medical services, especially in African countries where health care services and access to medicine is limited.
Dr. Denis Mukwege, who is supported by Pierre Fabre Foundation within the scope of its social responsibility activities, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018.
Dr. Denis Mukwege, also known as the “Dr. Miracle” for the successful surgeries he performed on the women who are victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, led the treatment of more than 50.000 women who are victims of sexual violence with the support of the Pierre Fabre Foundation.
The Foundation will continue to provide financial support for the next 2 years to bear the costs for all medical treatment processes of victimized women in the hospitals established by Dr. Denis Mukwege. We will also launch a social responsibility project in Turkey in the coming period as part of our patient-oriented activities, we are continuing our efforts in this direction.
What is the importance of environment, occupational health and safety policy for you? What are the measures and actions you have taken during production within this scope?
Within the scope of the “Green Mission” project launched by Pierre Fabre worldwide, we also try to protect the environment, create projects and contribute in Turkey.
We have donated a sapling to each of our employees at the Atatürk Forest, which was established through the Aegean Forestry Foundation. As Pierre Fabre Turkey, our main value is “Respect for Human”. Our employees are very important to us.
The main principle we adopt in occupational health and safety is to protect all our employees according to the zero accident principle and to ensure that there is no potential of accidents by creating proactive solutions.
We have an occupational safety specialist in Turkey and we ensure that all of our employees receive occupational safety training once a year with the guidance of our specialist.
