Celgene's New Regime: Hugin And Alles Discuss Handing Over The Reins
This article was originally published in Scrip
Mark Alles has been in his first pharma chief executive role for six weeks, after stepping into former Celgene Corp. leader Bob Hugin's shoes in March. While Alles has been with the company for 12 years and in the pharma industry for three decades he brings new skills to the top spot at Celgene and a keen eye for keeping science at the fore of his corporate decision making.
Alles and Hugin sat down with Scrip's Lucie Ellis at Celgene's recent innovation summit, held at its European headquarters in Boudry, Switzerland, to discuss transitioning leadership at the company, why they still represent a unified front, and how as CEO and chair they will preserve Celgene's specialty pharma culture even as the business continues to grow.
Lucie Ellis: Bob, why did you step down as CEO this year and was it a difficult decision to make?
Bob Hugin: Difficult decisions are always the ones that need to be thoughtfully made and I considered this decision for some time. The logic behind it is not so much me stepping down but it's about elevating others from within the company. Celgene has built what I believe is one of the most high-potential pipelines in the industry, alongside this the company has thought a lot about developing people to ensure the maximum number of people can have maximum impact on the organization. We are fortunate at the company to have a lot of good people and the last thing we wanted to do was create a succession plan, like other businesses do, where they start with five to 10 people and end up with just one, as people leave over time. My thinking has always been the more people we have who are successful, the better the company is for it. I intend to carry on in a very active role in Celgene moving forwards and chair of the board is the fourth title I have had now. I think I have managed to have a strong impact though with every title I have held, but I really wanted to expand and strengthen the leadership team and I am optimistic that is going to happen.
LE: You will remain as chair of Celgene's board, what will be your focus in this role?
BH: First and foremost Mark is the chief executive and my job is to help him be successful in driving the company forward. I have been involved in a lot of external arrangements that have helped Celgene in its business development planning and execution and as chair I will be focused on ensuring the board of management crafts the right business plan going forward. I look forward to being a good partner to Mark, to see that he and the company is as successful as possible.
LE: What do you want to see Celgene achieve in the future?
BH: I want to see our mission for improving human health stay robust. I want to see us stay bold and have the type of culture that is focused on the patient needs. This provides our teams the environment to do great things. The opportunity for people at Celgene to be impactful is what we want to maintain and advance.
LE: How do you maintain that kind of culture?
BH: When I think about leadership the words that come to me are humble and service. The more influential you get, the greater opportunity you have to serve others effectively. Success doesn't lead to complacency it gives you opportunity to have more of impact. I maintained this ambitious culture at Celgene by ensuring I walked the walk. But Mark can tell you more about this moving forwards…
Mark Alles: The ecosystem we are a part of is not just about Celgene, it's about how you work with governments around the world. We have to think about how we can participate and customize our involvement with governments globally. We have to have flexibility. A lot of technology companies talk about how rigorous their hiring process is, like Google and Microsoft, at Celgene we understand that your long term success collates back to the culture of the company and who you have hired. Particularly those people who represents how we engage with the world.
LE: Mark, what is different about you as a leader?
MA: Celgene is my fifth pharma company, I previous worked at start-ups firms as well, but most of my career before Celgene was with big multinational pharmas. Before Celgene I was at Aventis, a company that had 100 year histories from merging two European companies. So I certainly understand big pharma well. What attracted me to Celgene was what I think pharma is about today more broadly – that is these focused areas where experts come together and recognize that value propositions are not just words but differentiated outcomes in areas of high unmet medical need.
Celgene discovered a molecule that had almost miraculous effects in a disease that previously killed people in one to two years, multiple myeloma. Celgene built a company around this successful drug as opposed to being a generalist kind of pharma trying to severe broad-based needs in healthcare. It was a specialty company. Celgene now continues to be a specialty company but it is more diverse. Our model though of local expertise and deep scientific understanding is still strong today.
LE: Who are your influences and what key events have shaped you into the leader you are now?
MA: My mother was a nurse and I grew up loving science, biology in particular. She bought me an old microscope when I was in eighth grade and I have this vivid memory of putting everything I could under that microscope to better understand the world around me. Computers like they are today didn't exist back then, so the idea of the microscope as a way to see something beyond what was right in front of me was fascinating. I picked up a love for science early in my life and out of my six brothers my mother and I especially talked about this a lot.
My time in the Marine Corps was definitive for me, but it didn't change me. I focused a lot on the idea that the US military organization is actually a service organization. As I went on these missions to different parts of the world I had the realization that we were a service, more a peace keeping group, than we were that image the military has gained. Make no mistake we were in a combat role, but we were serving populations around the world that were extremely poor. I spent time in the Philippines, Thailand and places where poverty is rampant. I learnt a lot in the Marine Corps but after that I was lucky to join the pharma industry right away and I had great mentors, including Bob Hugin, across the five companies I have worked at.
LE: Can you give an example of something you have advocated at Celgene that has had a positive impact on the company?
MA: I have been a loud voice, even though I am on the business side of things, in investing in the kinds of clinical research studies which show clear differences in patient outcomes. Often the industry is criticized for incremental outcomes they take to regulators and payers. I have always believed the only sustainable business model is to truly differentiate the clinical benefit of your product. Many people have questioned me about whether I work on the science side or business side at Celgene; this to me is the biggest complement. I try to bring a patient view and a scientific view to every decision, versus always just focusing on the business.
LE: What are you looking forward to doing now you are a pharma CEO?
MA: The biggest opportunity for me lies in connecting what is happening in the outside world with the mission of our company. That connectivity of an external and internal view, CEOs are really challenged but have the opportunity and obligation to connect the dots. Organizations are focused on achieving goals but they need that bridge to the external world. I am conscious of this early on in my role at Celgene.