“I always wanted to bet on innovation in health“
From Porto, his hometown, Carlos Monteiro assumes, without fear, that he inherited "loyalty in coexistence" and "resilience in difficulties". Values that were instilled in him at an early age and allowed him, in 2015, to have the grit and audacity necessary to found the Biojam Holding Group after almost two decades of work in three multinational pharmaceutical companies in France, Germany and North America.
At stake was a highly risky decision in which he applied all his savings, all with the aim of creating a Portuguese pharmaceutical company that would focus on differentiated medicines with a strong innovation component, its trademark. Carlos Monteiro's interest in such a noble area arose after finishing his military service and starting, in 1987, a career as a Medical Information Delegate. "I immediately saw that our mission was not only commercial, but also a desire to provide ways to improve the quality of life of healthcare professionals and patients," he stressed.
The triumphs of the mission were immediately felt with Biojam reaching, just one year after its birth, the leadership in the Iberian market in the treatment of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. A unique achievement that served as a springboard for many others, such as the fact that, when the pandemic situation emerged in Portugal, it was one of the pioneering companies in making tests available for covid-19. A difficult process, but one that Carlos Monteiro always defended because he believed in the effectiveness of testing.
In this interview, with the "sea nearby", which he stressed can never be missing on a visit to the Invicta city, the CEO of Biojam opened the doors of his life and the history of the pharmaceutical company he leads. He shared with VIVA! the main impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the pharmaceutical industry, how the company dealt with the pandemic, the main medicines created and also made a kind of balance of these seven years on the market.
Learn everything in this interview with the man who calls himself a "proudly born Porto native" with over 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry.
How do you define yourself as a person, Porto native and founder of Biojam?
I was born in Porto and fulfilled the most difficult task I have set myself in 55 years of life, "that of being a father". I am a Porto native with great pride, with a vision of seeing the world, like our fellow countryman D. Henrique, "the navigator". I would even say that whoever lives nailed to just one land does not know how to dream of other places. Founding Biojam SA in Portugal with a view to this and other markets, such as Spain, is a clear proof of my intrinsic attitude of seeking "innovation" to put at the service of health.
Which place or places do you appreciate most in Porto? Why?
Antas, where I was born, where, by my father's hand, I watched the first game of my heart club. "Whoever comes and crosses the river, next to the Serra do Pilar, sees an old town that stretches to the sea"... this image is, definitively, my interpretation of Porto: "you are a São João waterfall erected on the mountain".
What can never be missing on a visit to the city?
The marriage between the immense Douro River and the beautiful sea... the Foz do Douro and, if possible, a grilled fish at Ramada do Mar. The sea always close by.
How and when in your life did you decide to found Biojam?
After several projects in multinational pharmaceutical companies, a disagreement with my direct European boss gave me this decision. Today I am grateful for it.
It must have been a well-considered decision, after a career in three multinational pharmaceutical companies. How was the company creation process? What were the main objectives that, at the time, were behind its creation?
Being an entrepreneur in Portugal is an act of great madness, the bureaucracy, the tax burden, a labor law that is not very friendly to job creation, a feeling of constant adaptation to a changing social and political environment. But, my goal was to bet on innovation in health, always in favor of the quality of products and services for the scientific community we serve and for "patients".
Those who know you say that you have always been sure that one day you would lead a company in the pharmaceutical industry. Why?
I started, in 1987, as a Medical Information Delegate, after leaving the Military Service, where I was for 16 months, and, from the beginning, I saw that our mission was not just commercial. Learning to find solutions to treat patients is not just a commercial task, it has a lot to do with wanting to provide ways to improve the quality of life of healthcare professionals and, of course, "patients".
In the multinational corporations where I've had the privilege to work, I've always sought scientific knowledge as a means to promote solutions. However, I've always wanted to create something with my own sense of mission and vision.
How do you define Biojam?
As a loyal company, with knowledge sharing and criticism, demanding, committed, and with an added social responsibility towards the people we address and dedicate ourselves to. The quality of life of fellow citizens is the basis of all our actions.
One year after its foundation, the company achieved leadership in the Iberian market in the treatment of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. How was it to achieve this recognition in such a short time?
Quoting Winston Churchill, "blood, sweat, and tears." A new company with a medication for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia only reaches leadership because pediatric oncologists, hospital pharmacists, Portuguese, and Spanish saw that the children who needed this medication had an innovative drug in their hands that allowed them to improve their quality of life and that of their families.
Innovation is the hallmark of Biojam in the pharmaceutical industry. Why?
Because we don't want to do what others already do very well. But, for example, if a cytotoxic requires positive cold storage, we will seek to bring to the market one with ambient temperature storage, thus avoiding waste in case of power outage and not requiring manipulation for administration. This is innovation. And that's why, five years ago, we created the Biojam Innovate Award in various hospital areas.
Biojam was one of the pioneering companies in providing tests for covid-19. How was this process?
Since the first wave, I felt that testing was the way. Whenever I defended this position publicly, I heard "positive" and "negative" criticism, but I never deviated from this course of scientific motivation to mitigate the pandemic. Countries that did so, as we know, obtained very promising results. And today, we are all much more effective because we have very accessible testing, which I always advocated for.
Currently, with almost two years of pandemic and much more knowledge about SARS-CoV-2, what has been the pharmaceutical intervention in this area?
Testing, testing, and testing, stopping positive cases, associated with other rules of social coexistence. Accessibility of testing by healthcare professionals with immediate reporting has been our intervention. In the future, we will have other novelties.
What was the main impact that SARS-CoV-2 had on the pharmaceutical industry?
The main impact was an efficient adaptation to an unknown environment: teleworking in a commercial department is very strange, a potential logistical absence of supply to hospitals, a dramatic decrease in consultations and surgeries...
How did Biojam deal with the pandemic?
We started by preparing all our professionals to work from home and held weekly, often daily, brainstorming meetings to cope with this change in professional habits and adapt our products and services to the environment we were experiencing. Our commitment to our fellow citizens was our motivation. And the thought was "We have Vitamin D, so we need to make it available in pharmacies for the hypothetical deficiency of this vitamin, we have Vitamin C, let's provide a boost of this vitamin, we have a unique injectable medication for exclusive hospital use with severe hypertension indication in all patients, but especially in infected ones, so we have to double our stocks to avoid running out." We always wanted to feel useful in the face of a pandemic that affected everyone.
The company was also a pioneer in launching an oral hygiene solution for diabetics. How was this whole process? How did the idea arise and how was it developed and then brought to market?
Medicine dentistry was not, and is not, our core. However, seeing a line of oral hygiene products for people with diabetes in the Central European market was a yes, without hesitation.
What is the importance of this solution for users diagnosed with diabetes?
Anoxident Balance has revolutionized the moderation of glucose release in the oral cavity of people with diabetes with an innovative process of restoring natural pH, among other additional advantages.
So far, what are the main medications created by Biojam in the market?
Cytotoxics with oncological indication, either because they do not require a filter or precise administration, which until then was mandatory.
What assessment do you make of Biojam? Seven years after its foundation?
Quoting Fernando Pessoa, I always live in the present, I do not know the future, and I no longer have the past. It's a very positive assessment.
So far, what has been the main goal you have achieved?
Being a factually successful parent. And I say this because by completing this difficult mission with excellence, we have the mental availability and focus for the remaining missions...
How do you grow in a world mostly dominated by pharmaceutical "giants"?
By earning respect and giving respect.
What mark would you like to leave on the country and the world?
Never to embarrass those who take pride in my relentless desire to create or find solutions for healthcare professionals benefiting the quality of life of the "patients."
Biojam is a 100% Portuguese group. Is there a possibility of the company's international expansion?
Strengthening our presence in the markets of Portugal and Spain is a priority. But, in a second phase, we want to expand to Benelux and Latin America.
There are certainly more innovative solutions to launch later this year. Is it possible to give a hint about any of them?
The only certainty in the pharmaceutical market is uncertainty. Medication regulation can always influence new releases or delay them.
How do you envision the year 2022 in the pharmaceutical industry?
I can't make a prediction. Everything will depend on the new post-pandemic reality, the easing of restrictions, new variants, the return to economic and social life... everything will revolve around this.
And Biojam's, specifically, this year and in the future?
Innovation from the origin, with rigor, competence, determination, ethics, resilience, and care for others as fundamental human values.
