Pharma Veterans

Dear Pharma Veterans! The purpose of ‘Pharma Veterans’ is to share your wealth of knowledge and wisdom with others. And to create a movement to recognize and celebrate the Pharma Industry Professionals. Presently, Pharma Veterans Blog is published on WordPress, one of the top blog sites. More is due to come in near future. Your stories, ideas and thoughts are eagerly awaited. Please send to asrar@asrarqureshi.com . Your contributions will be published promptly. Please join the Community and the Movement. Engagement is Essential. Thanks to research, ‘Engagement’ has become a buzz-word and mantra for success. And rightly so. It was not known when I started. As I mentioned earlier, tradition in Pharma was to join a company (more so in MNCs) and retire from there. Both parties remained ‘engaged’ as per tradition. It was more of a physical engagement and was not related to performance. The organization carried high performers and low performers together. There were interesting ex...

Dear Pharma Veterans! The purpose of ‘Pharma Veterans’ is to share your wealth of knowledge and wisdom with others. And to create a movement to recognize and celebrate the Pharma Industry Professionals. Presently, Pharma Veterans Blog is published on WordPress, one of the top blog sites. More is due to come in near future. Your stories, ideas and thoughts are eagerly awaited. Please send to asrar@asrarqureshi.com . Your contributions will be published promptly. Please join the Community and the Movement. Before I move on the next period, I wish to share some key learnings from the first period which I ended on leaving Hoechst, and of the Wanderings of next two years. I did not understand then, but I knew these later with the benefit of hindsight and more learning. Career Planning is Essential. The med reps who started before me, with me, and later, joined Pharma Sales by accident, not by choice. The profession paid well, it looked glamorous with five-star hotel meetings and...

Asrar’s Note: Dear Pharma Veterans! I have created this space for ‘Pharma Veterans’; all of us, not just me. I am filling this space to begin with to keep it moving. You are most cordially invited to write your thoughts/ ideas/ experiences. Please send these to me at asrar@asrarqureshi.com . Your contributions will be published promptly and without editing. Please join the Community and the Movement. I did not want to continue working in Pharma Sales while my friends wanted me to. I met Sher Afgan in Karachi who was running Siegfried. He offered me sales job, but I politely deferred. I also met Syed Ahmad (ex-Upjohn, then Servier) at his residence in Karachi. Great guy. We sat in his drawing room. In the first few minutes, it was concluded that we would not talk about job. The atmosphere became relaxed. He offered me tea and talked to me for an hour and half. He was from the old guard and he sort of mentored me in that time. I was not getting my desired job and I was getting ...

Asrar’s Note: Dear Pharma Veterans! I have created this space for ‘Pharma Veterans’; all of us. I am filling this space to begin with to keep it moving. You are most cordially invited to write your thoughts/ ideas/ experiences. Please send these to me at asrar@asrarqureshi.com . Your contributions will be published promptly and without editing. Please join the Community and the Movement. Wyeth was not a hard company to work for. As I said before, it was more of a ‘selling’ company owing to the nature of products it had at that time. I had two contradictory thoughts going on in my mind. I felt more and more unsettled in Pharma Sales. And, I also felt that I had gotten late in getting my first promotion. As per my thinking, the first promotion (becoming District Manager) should have come within first five years. I had completed five years, but I was nowhere near getting promoted. Wyeth had a long list of seniors before me in the queue. I knew that the delay had been largely due to...

Asrar’s Note: Dear Pharma Veterans! I have created this space for ‘Pharma Veterans’; all of us. I am filling this space to begin with, to keep it moving. You are most cordially invited to write your thoughts/ ideas/ experiences. Please send these to me at asrar@asrarqureshi.com . Your contributions will be published promptly and without editing. Please join the Community and the Movement. Like other MNCs, Wyeth also had long serving people. My manager Sharaf Iqbal had previously worked in Bahawalpur and Multan. We knew each other. Most other colleagues working at Lahore were not known to me previously, but they were all cooperative with each other. Along with the pharmaceutical products, we also promoted SMA and S26, the two infant milk formula products. During that time, milk formula promotion was open. These could also be advertised through media. Major companies in this area were Wyeth, Abbott, Mead Johnson and Nutricia. A single Japanese formula ‘MEIJI’ had been growing rap...

Asrar’s Note: Dear Pharma Veterans! I have created this space for ‘Pharma Veterans’; all of us, not just me. I am filling this space to begin with, in order to keep it moving. You are most cordially invited to write your thoughts/ ideas/ experiences. Please send these to me at asrar@asrarqureshi.com . Your contributions will be published promptly and without editing. Please join the Community and the Movement. Sheikh Ejaz, District Manager of Lederle, was an outstanding person, distinct from others, in a class of his own. He came from a well-placed family settled in Bahawalpur. He had joined sales profession at an older age, probably at thirty-two. He was well read, head-strong, non-conformist, and rebellious. His expression was refined; he spoke very well and with authority. He had great flair for sales. As manager, he developed his team but gave them a lot of free hand. He took me in his car from Multan to Sahiwal and introduced me around. Next was weekend, and he said he pla...

Asrar’s Note: Dear Pharma Veterans! I have created this space for ‘Pharma Veterans’; all of us, not just me. I am filling this space to begin with to keep it moving. You are most cordially invited to write your thoughts/ ideas/ experiences. Please send these to me at asrar@asrarqureshi.com . Your contributions will be published promptly and without editing. Please join the Community and the Movement. What did the industry look like in early 80s? Squibb (later Bristol Myers Squibb and now GSK) was big in cephalosporins. Velosef (cephradine) was top selling and expensive. A 500mg capsule sold for 11.40 rupees; very high price at that time. Squibb promoted and defended their product very aggressively and kept their position. Eli Lilly was also in Cephalosporin with Ceclor (cefaclor), Kefzol (cefazolin) and Keflin (cephalothin). Glaxo joined the race with Ceporex (cephalexin). Kefzol sold well but was only injectable. Ceclor and Ceporex were only oral. Velosef had the advantage t...

Asrar’s Note: Dear Pharma Veterans! I have created this space for ‘Pharma Veterans’; all of us, not just me. I am filling this space to begin with to keep it moving. You are most cordially invited to write your thoughts/ ideas/ experiences. Please send these to me at asrar@asrarqureshi.com . Your contributions will be published promptly and without editing. Please join the Community and the Movement. For the next year and half, I literally wandered around. I did not entirely go back to my home in Lahore. I divided my time between Lahore, Multan and Bahawalpur. I entered and exited Glaxo quickly. Then a colleague referred me to Sheikh Ejaz, District Manager Lederle. He had a vacancy in Sahiwal which I opted for. He said I had to go to Karachi for final interview. So, one afternoon, I embarked on Chenab Express from Bahawalpur to go to Karachi. The train had a problem on the way and reached Karachi eight hours behind schedule. It was about 5.00PM when I disembarked at Karachi c...

Asrar’s Note: Dear Pharma Veterans! I have created this space for ‘Pharma Veterans’; all of us, not just me. I am filling this space to begin with to keep it moving. You are most cordially invited to write your thoughts/ ideas/ experiences. Please send these to me at asrar@asrarqureshi.com . Your contributions will be published promptly and without editing. Please join the Community and the Movement. During October 1979, exactly after four years of joining, I left Hoechst. Though I worked for Reko for about four months before Hoechst, it was too short a time to feel much. I counted Hoechst as my first job. First job, like first love, carries huge emotional intensity. Despite the highs and lows, I loved Hoechst and felt a deep sense of belonging. I was quite disturbed and upset and angry, all at the same time. My attachment to Hoechst continued for long time. Even while working for other company, whenever I entered a pharmacy, my eyes went to the shelf of Hoechst unconsciously...

Asrar’s Note: Dear Pharma Veterans! I have created this space for ‘Pharma Veterans’; all of us, not just me. I am filling this space to begin with to keep it moving. You are most cordially invited to write your ideas/ experiences. Please send these to me at asrar@asrarqureshi.com . Your contributions will be published promptly and without editing. Please join the Community and the Movement. At younger age, we are more impressionable. But at any age, inspiring people would get to us even if we try to resist. The account of Hoechst in 70s would not be complete without talking about Syed Khalid Manzar. SKM started in Lahore as medical rep and reached Karachi. When he interviewed me in March 1975, he was Field Sales Manager based at Karachi. He then became National Sales Manager. He was finally nominated to become the first Pakistani Pharma Head, which position was always occupied by a foreigner, mostly Germans. SKM was very hard working and believed in achievement. He was al...

Asrar’s Note: Dear Pharma Veterans! I have created this space for ‘Pharma Veterans’; all of us, not just me. I am filling this space to begin with to keep it moving. You are most cordially invited to write your ideas/ experiences. Please send these to me at asrar@asrarqureshi.com . Your contributions will be published promptly and without editing. Please join the Community and the movement. Since I first visited Karachi in 1975, I loved the city. I did not think of shifting to Karachi but when the opportunity arose, I took it without hesitation. Sometime in August 1979, our worthy NSM SK Manzar thought it would be better for me to go to Karachi. Like other MNCs, Hoechst also had head office at Karachi, and everyone understood that if you aspired to grow, you would end up in Karachi. I was single and unencumbered and did not have any problem in relocating. And so, I went to Karachi, still working as medical representative. I was assigned a territory and was introduced by my co...

Asrar’s Note: Dear Pharma Veterans! I have created this space for ‘Pharma Veterans’; all of us, not just me. I am filling this space to begin with to keep it moving. You are most cordially invited to write your ideas/ experiences. Please send these to me at asrar@asrarqureshi.com . Your contributions will be published promptly and without editing. Please join the movement. Multan was a very familiar place for me and I settled instantly. The old saying is that Multan has plenty of dust (gard), heat (garma), dervish/faqeer (gada) and graves/Mazars (goristan). I knew already as I had lived here four years earlier, and I had been coming here almost every week. Multan has lots of history and culture which you can enjoy if you spend time here. I did not have a permanent abode. I stayed with Javed Akhtar (now Rising Stars fame) for a short while. I also shared a house with a very fine person for some time. It is my privilege to introduce Riaz Najmi here. RN was working in MSD (Merc...

Asrar’s Note: Dear Pharma Veterans! I have created this space for ‘Pharma Veterans’; all of us, not just me. I am filling this space to begin with to keep it moving. You are most cordially invited to write your ideas/ experiences. Please send these to me at asrar@asrarqureshi.com . Your contributions will be published promptly and without editing. Please join the Community and the Movement. At younger age, we are more impressionable. But at any age, inspiring people would get to us even if we try to resist. The account of Hoechst in 70s would not be complete without talking about Syed Khalid Manzar. SKM started in Lahore as medical rep and reached Karachi. When he interviewed me in March 1975, he was Field Sales Manager based at Karachi. He then became National Sales Manager. He was finally nominated to become the first Pakistani Pharma Head, which position was always occupied by a foreigner, mostly Germans. SKM was very hard working and believed in achievement. He was al...

Asrar’s Note: Dear Pharma Veterans! I have created this space for ‘Pharma Veterans’; all of us, not just me. I am filling this space to begin with to keep it moving. You are most cordially invited to write your ideas/ experiences. Please send these to me at asrar@asrarqureshi.com . Your contributions will be published promptly and without editing. Please join the Community and the movement. Our Multan team continued to slide down in terms of team cohesion, team work and team performance. We had not become a ‘manager’ as yet, but we had our views on management. I do not remember how right or wrong our thinking was, but we had some deep thinking anyway. I would like to look back and re-examine why a good, strong team fell apart. We start by seeing what made us into a ‘team’. Common Agenda: We followed the same purpose. We wanted to perform and achieve/exceed sales targets. We also wanted to excel in meetings. We supported one another even if we had to go out of the way. I m...

Asrar’s Note: Dear Pharma Veterans! I have created this space for ‘Pharma Veterans’; all of us, not just me. I am filling this space to begin with to keep it moving. You are most cordially invited to write your ideas/ experiences. Please send these to me at asrar@asrarqureshi.com . Your contributions will be published promptly and without editing. Please join the movement. While working in Lahore, I did not experience the team factor, though we were a team of five. Because we did not do anything as a team. We worked in our territories and met the AM once a week. Team meetings were rare. In Rawalpindi, there was no team as such. Then I came to Bahawalpur and we were a split team. I was alone in Bahawalpur, two MRs were based in Multan and Faisalabad each, and one in Sargodha. We met infrequently. However, thanks to our AM, Ashraf Butt, we evolved into a team. He encouraged us to be in contact and tried to find some occasion to connect us. Over time, despite lack of present day ...