HR or in a more direct line role in
delivering patient solutions, our
employees celebrate what we are
accomplishing at UCB. Interestingly, our focus on patients has
attracted like-minded, very skilled
and passionate employees. This,
in turn, further accelerates our
culture to a more patient-centric
organization. We measure the impact of our patient value cultural
through frequent employee surveys (where we consistently receive
high marks on patient focus), and
improvements in retention and
engagement. For our shareholders,
we only need to look at our company’s performance. Our quarterly
results are our report card on how
well we are executing our patient
centered strategies. For HCPs, I
believe we are convincing them
through our actions that we are
very much aligned to their priorities—improved access to care for
patients, improved health outcomes, lower costs and improved
patient satisfaction. We have many
examples where we have achieved
that level of trust, alignment and
success with HCPs.
DAVID ST. DENIS: We are at the
beginning of our journey, but I’m
happy with the progress we made
so far. For patients I believe we
have been successful in inserting
ourselves into their treatment decisions along that patient journey.
That has resulted in them potentially getting better options as a
result of a more informed HCP.
For our employees this shift has
resulted in an empowered team,
driven by the power of purpose
and belief that what they do every
day makes a difference, not just a
paycheck. For investors, beyond
the obvious financial results, we
are building a brand identity that
establishes us as an important
player in our space; a player who is
driving innovation and improve-
ment in providing patient care.
This ultimately makes the compa-
ny they are invested in more valu-
able and sustainable. Finally, for
HCPs, here is where we still have
so much opportunity. HCPs today
are under tremendous pressure to
increase the quality of care while
containing its cost. This results in
them potentially having less time
to look at changes in their practice
that could be beneficial but risk
costing them more time in the
near term. We have been success-
ful at convincing many of our cus-
tomers that we can be trusted and
intend the best for their patients,
but we are still struggling with the
best way to get them comfortable
with the investment in change.
Much has been done in patient
centricity, but much remains to
be done. What are the next steps
in your company with respect to
this important effort?
BRYAN SELBY: Culture mat-
ters! Culture wins! Positive culture
doesn’t just happen. Our patient-
centric culture, as strong as it is,
needs continued nourishment and
continued recognition throughout
the organization, especially from
senior management. It’s easy to
lose sight in the pressure and chal-
lenges of the day, but we at Retro-
phin try hard to remind ourselves
daily of why we are here—to help
save or improve a life of someone
living with rare disease, one pa-
tient at a time
DAVID FORTANBARY: We
must stay the course. Living in a
VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world, it is very
easy to lose focus and become
distracted on our purpose and desired outcomes. However, with our
leadership, our employees and our
purpose deeply rooted into our
organization, I am very optimistic
that we will continue to succeed
and fulfill our mission to help patients living with serious diseases.
This is who we are at UCB.
GAMZE YÜCELAND: Being a
patient-centric company is at the
core of who we are and is part of
our global and local strategy. We
have built a very strong foundation that puts patient centricity at
the core of how we do business.
It is imperative that everyone in
the company has a patient-centric
mindset—patients must always
come first. There is always room
Moving Forward
