Interview with Avinash Potnis, General Manager of Novartis Türkiye

We conducted an enjoyable interview with Avinash Potnis, General Manager of Novartis Turkey Pharmaceuticals, discussing the technologies the company uses, its targets for coming years, and the advantages it will bring to the sector.

Mr. Avinash Potnis, could you tell our readers about yourself and your professional background?

I was born and raised in a small town 500 km south of Mumbai in India. I studied there until I went to Mumbai for university. I completed my bachelor's degree in veterinary medicine and my master's degree in pharmacy. My transition to the pharmaceutical sector came in 1993 with Sandoz. I worked in the export division supporting the animal health unit. Following the company merger in 1996, I focused more on human health and pharmaceuticals. In 2005, I served as Strategic Assistant reporting to the Asia Regional Director. In 2006, I was appointed Country Director of the Philippines and subsequently took on the role of Country Director at Sandoz Vietnam. I then worked as Asia Distributor Market Director in Thailand. In 2008, I returned to Vietnam and led Novartis units as Country Director for Emerging Markets. In 2010, I took on a position in Malaysia as Director of Emerging Markets and Country President. In 2013, I moved to Novartis headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, and took over as Head of the Novartis APMA Region (Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa) Ophthalmology Unit. Since 2017, I have been serving as General Manager of Novartis Turkey Pharmaceuticals.

As a pharmaceutical company that produces solutions addressing patient needs, what would you like to say about Novartis?

Novartis is one of the world's most established pharmaceutical companies, with roots going back to 1758 and headquarters in Switzerland. We operate in approximately 140 countries worldwide with approximately 105,000 employees. As Novartis, we have been operating in Turkey since the 1950s. With our 4 production facilities and headquarters in Istanbul Kavacık, we employ 2,400 people. At our production facilities, we manufacture innovative and generic medicines. We export from Turkey to more than 100 countries. Research and development is an area where we make significant investments every year and to which we attach great importance. Last year, we reached more than 5 million patients in Turkey. We attribute this success, which we have reinforced through awards we have received as Novartis, to our patient-focused approach and innovative human resources practices that have created our Novartis culture. Could you describe your product range and areas of focus? The Novartis Group operates within three separate divisions based on its main therapeutic areas. Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Novartis Oncology, and Sandoz. As Novartis Pharmaceuticals, we focus on innovative treatments in cardiovascular, respiratory, neurology, ophthalmology, immunology, hepatology, and dermatology areas. Novartis Oncology develops treatments aimed at meeting patient needs in cancer therapy. Sandoz offers generic and biosimilar products.

What are the criteria you consider when conducting scientific research? Could you provide information about "Clinical Trials" you conduct in Turkey?

We are industry leaders in clinical research in Turkey. As Novartis, we conduct approximately 100 clinical trials annually in our country with investments of approximately USD 30 million. Looking globally, we allocate 17% of our annual earnings to research and development activities. At our Biomedical Research Centers under the Novartis Institute, we conduct many activities from the discovery of new drugs to early-phase clinical studies. In these centers, where approximately 6,000 scientists work, we carry out the discovery of innovative treatments. Cell and gene therapies developed recently are important examples of how Novartis is redesigning medicine.

Could you discuss Novartis Pharmaceuticals' innovation strategy and dynamics? What efforts are you undertaking to develop your innovation capacity?

Novartis is one of the most innovative companies among pharmaceutical firms. Big data and digitalization are the most important agenda items for Novartis globally to "redesign medicine." Novartis has already taken important steps in cell and gene therapies. In this area, we can cite the treatment of SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy) and therapies developed for certain congenital retinal diseases caused by genetic mutations as examples. Novartis has also recently concluded an agreement with Microsoft, creating a strong partnership by leveraging Microsoft's expertise in artificial intelligence and big data to develop new treatments and medicines. An innovation laboratory will be established under this partnership. This collaboration appears to fundamentally change healthcare services.

In an age when digitalization is integrated into our daily lives, how do you define digitalization for Novartis? How does this reflect in your work and the products you manufacture?

Big data and digitalization are among Novartis' five global priorities. This priority is also among the priorities and targets of Novartis Turkey Pharmaceuticals. Digitalization has positively affected many processes in our company, from the procurement process to production, from employee recruitment to onboarding, from clinical trials to product launch excellence. Its positive impacts have been so significant that it has reshaped our company culture. We conduct our internship and new graduate recruitment processes in the digital environment. At Novartis Pharmaceuticals, we have accelerated employee adaptation to the company through "digital orientation programs." We have received very positive feedback from our orientation program created using "Virtual Reality" technology. Recently as Novartis Pharmaceuticals, we launched a new digital application called EASY in Turkey to increase efficiency in event and compliance management. This application, whose acronym stands for Event Application System, is a digital platform that streamlines event management conducted within Novartis Pharmaceuticals. With this application, we continue to lead innovation in our sector. The application provides great convenience to both our field staff and our central office staff in event management. The 'CUBE' project is another innovative project we have implemented as Novartis Turkey Pharmaceuticals. Thanks to this project, healthcare professionals come together on an online platform where they can share patient experiences, new research, and mechanisms of action.

Could you describe the work you have undertaken to ensure environmental sustainability?

We are taking steps to strengthen the trust-based relationships between us and our stakeholders and society. We aim to maintain ourselves at the highest ethical standards, to be part of the solution in pharmaceutical pricing and access, to help overcome global health challenges, and to be a responsible citizen wherever we operate. We know that in order to achieve our business objectives, we must work with integrity, transparency, and environmental sustainability. We adopt an ambitious environmental sustainability strategy targeting sustainable water management, carbon and plastic neutrality. In 2019, we significantly reduced our use of single-use plastics across all our operations. A 57% reduction in plastic use was achieved in our factories. This means preventing approximately 20.16 tons/year of CO2 emissions. Our target is to achieve zero single-use plastic consumption and neutrality at our factories within a 3-year period. At our Kavacık headquarters, plastic use was reduced by 61%. This means preventing approximately 6.6 tons/year of CO2 emissions. We plan to completely eliminate single-use plastic consumption at our offices over the next 2 years. To reduce vehicle-related CO2 emissions, the working areas of the sales team were organized to be as efficient as possible, reducing vehicle km usage rates. Through energy reduction projects at our factories, CO2 emissions were reduced by 8% in 2019. We aim to be carbon neutral by 2021. In addition to all of this, wastewater recovery systems at our factories have achieved 19% water savings.

Do you have social responsibility projects you have carried out? What are your efforts in this regard?

In 2019, we initiated many successful awareness projects related to various diseases. In the field of rare diseases, the "Rare Child Mustafa's Story" project carried out with the Turkish Pediatric Rheumatology Association, the "Ankylosing Spondylitis Stories" documentary project conducted with the Turkish Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Association and the Turkish Rheumatology Association to draw attention to ankylosing spondylitis, the "In Your Language" project conducted with the Dermatoimmunology and Allergy Association for urticaria patients, and awareness projects such as "There is Life in Psoriasis Treatment" conducted with the Turkish Psoriasis Association touched many people, and most importantly, helped them understand their diseases. One of our most impactful projects in 2019 was the "My Journey" project. Through this project, we aimed to draw attention to the psychological dimension that chronic diseases create on individuals and to raise awareness in society. As part of the project, we conducted interviews with patients referred by patient associations under the guidance of clinical psychologists. We compiled the patients' disease acceptance processes into 8 videos. Each patient found a piece of themselves in these videos. We believe these videos will inspire individuals living with chronic diseases. Our patients are not alone in this journey. As Novartis, we are taking ownership of an overlooked area through the My Journey project and will continue to conduct events under the project scope in the coming year.