Focusing Solely On Animal Health Sets Zoetis Apart
In April 2013, experts diagnosed a virus spreading quickly among America's pigs. It has since killed more than 7 million piglets in 30 states.
By early summer of 2013, the leadership team at animal-health company Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) decided to develop a vaccine for the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv). The company's chief executive, Juan Ramon Alaix, declared that Zoetis would be first to market with a vaccine.
He hoped that the U.S. Department of Agriculture would grant Zoetis a conditional license for the vaccine by the end of 2014. As it turns out, the Florham Park, N.J.-based company announced the USDA conditional license on Sept. 3.
"It was a great success that established an important benchmark in terms of the time in which we can bring a vaccine to market," Alaix said. "Fourteen months is remarkable. It's unusually fast" for developing a vaccine to attack a fast-spreading infectious disease.
How And Why
Zoetis split off from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) in 2013. With roughly 9,800 employees, Zoetis is the world's largest animal health firm and provides veterinary medicines, vaccines and other animal-related services.
Alaix, 63, became CEO of Zoetis in 2012 after six years running Pfizer Animal Health. He credits his success as a leader in part to his willingness to delegate and hold people accountable for follow-through.
"You feel comfortable delegating when you have the right individuals reporting to you," he said.
Alaix likes to surround himself with top talent. To identify rising stars, he engages in frequent face-to-face conversations in which he asks managers how and why they reached key decisions. He's especially impressed when they offer a menu of options, pick the best one and explain their reasons for arriving at that recommendation.
To develop the PEDv vaccine so quickly, Alaix mobilized the company's emerging infectious disease team to pinpoint the problem and conduct research. Once the sales force learned about the disease from livestock producers and other Zoetis customers, the firm's research-and-development staff in Kalamazoo, Mich., sprung into action.
"We have the largest field (sales) force in the market," Alaix said. "Our commercial team identified the need in the market and transferred the information to our R&D colleagues."
Unlike many big pharmaceutical firms that seek to develop and sell medications for both humans and animals, Zoetis focuses solely on animal health. Its specialized expertise and its global scale give it a distinct advantage.
"We have about 1,100 scientists and investigators around the world," Alaix said. "And our field force is in constant communication with our customers," who include livestock producers and veterinarians.
In addition, Zoetis collaborates with universities and works closely with governmental regulators in America as well as foreign markets. These relationships help the company identify and fill customer needs readily.
Alaix emphasizes effective execution as a key to bringing medications to market. Collaboration among the sales force, R&D team and manufacturing staff enables Zoetis to innovate rapidly.
By early summer of 2013, the leadership team at animal-health company Zoetis (NYSE:ZTS) decided to develop a vaccine for the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv). The company's chief executive, Juan Ramon Alaix, declared that Zoetis would be first to market with a vaccine.
He hoped that the U.S. Department of Agriculture would grant Zoetis a conditional license for the vaccine by the end of 2014. As it turns out, the Florham Park, N.J.-based company announced the USDA conditional license on Sept. 3.
"It was a great success that established an important benchmark in terms of the time in which we can bring a vaccine to market," Alaix said. "Fourteen months is remarkable. It's unusually fast" for developing a vaccine to attack a fast-spreading infectious disease.
How And Why
Zoetis split off from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) in 2013. With roughly 9,800 employees, Zoetis is the world's largest animal health firm and provides veterinary medicines, vaccines and other animal-related services.
Alaix, 63, became CEO of Zoetis in 2012 after six years running Pfizer Animal Health. He credits his success as a leader in part to his willingness to delegate and hold people accountable for follow-through.
"You feel comfortable delegating when you have the right individuals reporting to you," he said.
Alaix likes to surround himself with top talent. To identify rising stars, he engages in frequent face-to-face conversations in which he asks managers how and why they reached key decisions. He's especially impressed when they offer a menu of options, pick the best one and explain their reasons for arriving at that recommendation.
To develop the PEDv vaccine so quickly, Alaix mobilized the company's emerging infectious disease team to pinpoint the problem and conduct research. Once the sales force learned about the disease from livestock producers and other Zoetis customers, the firm's research-and-development staff in Kalamazoo, Mich., sprung into action.
"We have the largest field (sales) force in the market," Alaix said. "Our commercial team identified the need in the market and transferred the information to our R&D colleagues."
Unlike many big pharmaceutical firms that seek to develop and sell medications for both humans and animals, Zoetis focuses solely on animal health. Its specialized expertise and its global scale give it a distinct advantage.
"We have about 1,100 scientists and investigators around the world," Alaix said. "And our field force is in constant communication with our customers," who include livestock producers and veterinarians.
In addition, Zoetis collaborates with universities and works closely with governmental regulators in America as well as foreign markets. These relationships help the company identify and fill customer needs readily.
Alaix emphasizes effective execution as a key to bringing medications to market. Collaboration among the sales force, R&D team and manufacturing staff enables Zoetis to innovate rapidly.
