I'm happy to introduce Spinraza to patients.

[Interview] Se-eun Hwang, Biogen Korea’s CEO

Se-eun Hwang, Biogen Korea’s CEO

Biogen, a bioventure company in the US and a smaller company in Korea.

 

Last year, Biogen Korea, which has about 10 employees, registered and launched insurance benefits for its famous spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) treatment Spinraza (Nusinersen).

 

Prior to listing, Biogen Korea's employees had only five employees.

 

Spinraza, a high-priced new drug for rare diseases, did not go well due to its price.

 

Hwang was the only representative of Biogen and introduced the only but necessary new drug, Spinraza.

 

From the approval stage to the reimbursement adequacy evaluation by the HIRA and negotiations with the NHIS, the CEO of the corporation directly persuaded the government.

 

.After approval from the MFDS in December 2017, the company went through two reimbursement-based subcommittees and was also presented twice to the pharmaceutical benefits advisory committee

 

.After a long discussion, It was able to pass a deliberation by accepting the pre-approval system in the form of a refund/expenditure cap of risk sharing agreement (RSA) in last April

 

.Dailypharm met with the CEO of Biogen, Se-eun Hwang who launched a new drug in Korea to hear about the company's future

 

.-For the general public, Biogen is a unfamiliar company so far

 

.Please introduce briefly Biogen is a global biotechnology company founded in 1978 by five scientists, including Nobel laureates Walter Gilbert and Philip Sharp

 

.Although it is a young company with low recognition in Korea, it is widely known as a neuroscience specialist company with over 40 years of history in the United States

 

.The mission of the company is 'At Biogen, our mission is clear, we are pioneers in neuroscience'

 

.In particular, the aim is to provide solutions in areas where therapeutics have not yet been developed and where more effective therapeutics are still needed

 

.Until now, we have been developing and supplying therapeutic drugs in a wide range of neuroscience fields such as rare diseases and multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease, and Parkinson's disease, which are equivalent to the field of neuroscience

 

.-What is Biogen's goal in Korea and its short-term and long-term goals

 

?The first purpose of the Korean subsidiary was to allow for the rapid introduction of SMA therapeutic Spinraza into Korea

 

.A Korean subsidiary was established after FDA approval in the United States in 2016, and the goal was to focus on creating an environment in which spinal muscular atrophy patients could have treatment as soon as possible

 

.The short term goal is to improve the environment so that patients can be diagnosed early and begin treatment

 

.Although Spinraza was released in April last year, it is a rare disease treatment, so I think there are a lot of patients who are not aware of the disease

 

.It is also important for medical staff to provide accurate information with more opportunities for Spinraza

 

.The long-term goal is to build and promote a foundation for providing patients with new drugs that can be introduced into the country in the future

 

.To provide Korean patients with as many clinical opportunities as possible and to expand their investment in domestic clinical research to create a win-win environment

 

.-It has been 40 years since its establishment

 

.It's not short, but the only drug introduced in Korea is Spinraza

 

.Companies basically aim to bring together many talented people to achieve business goals and grow together

 

.Biogen Korea is pursuing an efficient structure

 

.The currently approved drug is Spinraza, which has an optimized staffing structure

 

.In the future, the introduction of new drugs will expand the scope as well as human resources

 

.-Even if there aren't many drugs yet, Isn't the size of the corporation quite small

 

?Biogen pursues a small but strong organization

 

.Biogen Korea was established with the initial goal of supplying Spinraza to Korea

 

.And Biogen is an organization where the best people are agile in many situations

 

.This spirit of bioventure is what makes Biogen a success for 40 years

 

.-What corporate culture do you want to build as a CEO, and how do you want to run it

 

?Biogen aims to be a 'Matrix Organization' as a way of collaborating organically with employees in different departments while maintaining existing departmental systems

 

.The Korean subsidiary is also a horizontal organization, where employees work in a way that reports directly to their line manager, instead of going through a number of procedures for each area of ​​expertise

 

.Each employee is an expert in his field

 

.Last week's employee workshops also highlighted the importance of collaborating with experts in each field

 

.-Are there any preparations after Spinaza

 

?It is difficult to know exactly which drugs will be introduced first (including next year and the future)

 

.Rare diseases are difficult to develop therapeutics and predict the clinical outcome

 

.Biogen is currently in phase 1 to 3 clinical trials of more than 20 pipelines worldwide

 

.Although it may not be decided immediately, Biogen Korea's role is to make it possible to provide domestic patients as soon as possible when new drugs are introduced

 

.-Listing and launching Spinraza was not an easy process

 

.Please give your impressions

 

.There were various discussions before insurance coverage was applied

 

.I think it's too early to say it's because I think it's on the reimbursed list but it's not over yet

 

.However, compared to the first time I decided to join Biogen Korea and wondered whether I can introduce Spinraza to Korea, It is a pleasure to be able to apply the benefits quickly and to be able to receive treatment

 

.-What was the hardest part of the listing process

 

?Personally, I think it was the hardest thing to solve one by one with everything uncertain

 

.Spinraza, in particular, had to start reimbursement process right after I joined Biogen as the first employee, but it was the most difficult to predict because I had never had a big role in the reimbursement process before, so the prediction of the possibilities was the hardest

 

.-I wonder what the process of coordination with the head office was like

 

.I think it was the first branch of Korea and the process of coordinating with the head office was not easy

 

.How much does Biogen headquarters consider the situation in Korea

 

?Until I joined Biogen, I was primarily responsible for commercial work, and I was not directly responsible for Market Access

 

.However, in the light of industry stories and personal experiences, the support is clearly a big boost

 

.Biogen understands the domestic situation at a high level

 

.In particular, close negotiations between the government and the company are very important in drug price negotiations, and in the process, the head office supported a large portion of them, which led to a successful reimbursement listing

 

.It is also a reason to feel proud as a member of the company and to thank the company

 

.-You have marketing experience in 'Soliris' in Handok, and Spinraza in Biogen

 

.The two types of pipelines that represent careers are rare diseases

 

.Is there any reason to be particularly interested in the field of rare diseases

 

?I have been in the pharmaceutical industry for over 20 years, but until I worked in Handok, my major was chronic disease

 

.At that time, I was proud of all my medications and worked with the conviction that patients taking medications were much more useful than their competitors

 

.After joining Handok, I was responsible for treating rare diseases for the first time

 

.Unlike in the chronic disease market, which was judged by market share, I was able to feel and think more closely about the changes in patients' lives than in the market for rare diseases.