Exec gives up retirement to grow pharma business

JANE Villablanca

It was a year into her self-imposed retirement when Jane G. Villablanca received an offer she felt she couldn’t refuse: To set up a new company in the Philippines.

The mother of two, who left the corporate world in July 2012 to devote more time to her toddlers, was posed the challenge by a privately-held multinational pharmaceutical firm headquartered in Switzerland.

“Ferring Pharmaceuticals Co. approached me and offered me to start a new company of which I will be the general manager. They wanted to set up an office here in the Philippines,” Villablanca told the Inquirer, “Their products are really premium, being Swiss made, and these are effective, high end products that do not have equivalent generic medicines.”

Villablanca said Ferring was one of the few pharmaceutical companies that continued to invest heavily in obstetrics products that are designed not only to make childbirth safer, but also to treat infertility, thus giving infertile couples a better chance of starting their own families.

To be in a position to help couples have the children they have always wanted is the primary reason she dropped out of retirement and accepted the job.

After all, she can relate to what couples with difficulty having children go through.

“I know how it feels to be a patient and I know how it feels to be part of that population who had difficulties in becoming pregnant. I know what the patient needs. I had to buy all the medicines I needed before from Singapore,” Villablanca related.

Back in 2006, there were just a handful of fertility centers in the country and the success rates were not that high.

The medicines prescribed for fertility treatments were also not readily available in the Philippines, she said.

“It’s only now that the market [for these medicines] is starting to develop. Ferring products became available in the Philippines starting 2009 but it wasn’t widely known then,” Villablanca added.

A BRASS sculpture called ‘Prelude’ depicts the act of giving birth or giving life. It can be found at the Ferring office in Switzerland

In 2012, Ferring Pharmaceutical brands were made available exclusively through Metro Drug Inc. The following year, the parent firm decided to set up an office here.

The new office, which was inaugurated in April this year, has 32 employees, most of whom are medical representatives.

The plan is to increase this to 71 by the end of the year and to tap more areas outside Metro Manila.

To execute the vision for the company, Villablanca is banking on her years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry.

She had worked with companies such as Schering Plough, Merck Sharp & Dohme and Cathay Drug. Prior to Ferring, Villablanca was also with Johnson & Johnson Phils. Inc—Janssen Pharmaceutica, where she held several sales and marketing positions, before becoming general manager from July 2005 to July 2012.

Villablanca graduated with a BS degree in Public Health from UP Manila in 1987, and holds a Master in Business Administration from  Ateneo Graduate School of Business. She also has a doctorate in Public Administration from UP Diliman-National College of Public Administration and Governance.

“Our game plan now is to spread the word that Ferring is here and that we have very good products that will be widely available, as infertility becomes increasingly more of a problem here in the Philippines,” she said.

Globally, there are said to be about 60 to 80 million cases of infertility, according to data from the World Health Organization.

In the Philippines alone, Villablanca said the rate of infertility among couples who remain childless for more than five years would be one of four.

The incidence of infertility was said to be highest in Metro Manila.

Although infertility remains a problem, its treatment has become an emerging practice in the Philippines, an unmet need that Ferring would like to address.

“This is why it’s the perfect time for Ferring to establish its own presence in the Philippines. The economy is growing and universal healthcare has become a priority of the government,” Villablanca said.

“Over the last decade, Ferring wanted to expand globally and in the Asia Pacific, considering in particular the emerging markets like the Philippines. Given the growth of the pharmaceutical industry in the Philippines, they decided to have a presence in the country, and recently, have their own operations,” she added.

Villablanca also cited the enactment of the Reproductive Health Law, which brought to light the other elements of reproductive health such as the prevention, treatment and management of infertility and sexual dysfunction.

She said the implementation of the RH Law would also allow Ferring Pharmaceuticals to showcase its range of medicines and treatments to the local market.

The research-driven Ferring Pharmaceuticals continues to develop innovative products in the areas of reproductive health, urology, gastroenterology, endocrinology and orthopedics.

One of the company’s key areas of expertise is Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).

Its female healthcare portfolio, meanwhile, consisted of traditional highly purified and standardized human derived products at every stage of reproductive cycle to ensure better maternal health and safe childbirth. It also targets to become the market leader in reproductive healthcare through its products for infertility and obstetrics.

Ferring Pharmaceuticals also wants to be part of the government’s drive to reduce the incidence of infertility and maternal mortality rates.

“We have a partnership with MSD and WHO to address global maternal mortality rate through the development of special heat stable product to treat postpartum hemorrhage. We’re starting clinical trials in eight countries but we’re not yet part of that. But once the trial is finished, hopefully, Ferring could also make donations to the Philippine Department of Health,” Villablanca said.

“For fertility centers, we are trying to partner also with government hospitals like the Philippine General Hospital so Ferring can share its expertise on how to set up the centers, help train doctors, and link these proposed centers to existing fertility centers abroad. The technology and expertise transfer could benefit the country,” she added.

The local unit of Ferring Pharmaceuticals will likewise embark on information campaigns on infertility over the next two years, as it positions itself to be recognized as the leading partner in the Philippines when it comes to reproductive health.