Patrice Coissac
Senior Vice President, Alexion Pharmaceuticals
President, Alexion International Sàrl
“I joined Alexion in 2005 with the goal of leading the company's expansion into
Europe. From the beginning, I sensed that Alexion was a different kind of company.
When I first visited the headquarters in Connecticut, I was impressed by the people,
their scientific expertise, business acumen and urgent desire to learn more about
the European market.
“In the early days of Alexion Europe, I had the opportunity to meet the president
of a patient organization dedicated to paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH).
This young woman was extremely well educated on her disease, but I could also see
how tired she was and how much she needed help. I realized that I had spent my entire
career within the pharmaceutical industry but very far from patients, in an environment
where new developments happened very slowly. Working with Alexion would be a chance
for me to help bring innovative, life-changing products directly to patients in
a short period of time, which is exactly what I wanted.
“I knew it would take a great deal of work to successfully launch Alexion in Europe,
but I was very excited by the challenge. When we started, we had no people and no
infrastructure in place. In three years' time, we have been able to provide PNH
patients in need of treatment with Soliris therapy, and this in over 17 countries
of the European Community. This was a result of successful access negotiations in
five European countries, and the creation of two hubs in charge of delivering our
therapy to patients across territories in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“Watching this growth has been very rewarding, and I attribute it to the people
who work here. I like to say that we recruit people with fire in their bellies and
sparkles in their eyes. They have a sense of adventure and enthusiasm, which has
contributed to our success in such a short period of time.
“Europe is 27 countries, 27 cultures, 25 different languages and many different
ways of doing things.
While we have different backgrounds and cultures, we are all inspired by three very
important common values. One is respect – respect for the patient, the physician,
our collaborators and the environment. Another is service. We are here to serve
the community – the patients and doctors – not ourselves. And the last one is trust.
We always try to work in a way that inspires trust among each other and the people
who rely on us. These values have led to our success so far, and will continue to
guide our work in the future.”