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| Raymund T. Azurin, Chief Executive, Zuellig-Pharma Corporation |
He is currently at the helm of a PhP 65
billion business with over 1,800 employees. As head of Zuellig Pharma, Inc.-- the biggest pharmaceutical
distribution and healthcare services company in the Philippines-- Raymund T. Azurin has taken
upon himself a personal advocacy to collaborate with industry players in expanding healthcare access to the lower income and younger
segments of the population.
The beginnings of such advocacy could be traced to
his high school days at Ateneo de Manila, when he aspired to follow the steps
of his father, who was an illustrious lawyer. Raymund wanted a career in which
he too can help protect and defend people’s rights.
He took
up A.B. Economics as a pre-law course at the University of the Philippines. Upon graduation, Raymund
enrolled in the evening classes of UP College of Law, while working
full-time in a law firm in Makati. After 2 years, he shifted directions, he
wanted to go corporate. He eyed the pharmaceutical industry, drawn by its
stable and sustainable business.
Raymund distinctly remembers his first day as a pharmaceutical rep trainee. The bus he was taking to Makati broke down, and consequently, he reached the training room just about when the door was
closing. That pharmaceutical
company had a strict policy on tardiness-- anyone late for training was
automatically eliminated from the
program. Raymund then found
himself jobless on the day he thought he would begin a career.
Undaunted, Raymund applied to other pharmaceutical
companies. His first break came at
Natterman Philippines, where he started in 1985 as a medical rep. Four years later, an opportunity
came for him and his family to move as immigrants to Sydney, Australia.
There, he was hired by Astra
Pharmaceuticals. In his first
year, Raymund was awarded Med Rep of the Year -- receiving over half of all the
awards given out that year.
Looking back, Raymund
attributes his early success to his going the
extra mile. For instance,when the
company average for calls or visits to doctors’ clinics was less than 6 calls a day, he was doing an
average of 10 calls daily.
In 1995, he got a big break and
was hired as Sales and Marketing Manager to help set up Solvay Australia— a
global company based in Belgium. A few years after the successful launch of
Solvay, he was hired by Merck Sharpe & Dohme (MSD), one of the top three largest
pharma companies in Australia. During his tenure with MSD, Raymund was appointed to
lead the integration of a $150 M biotech company that MSD acquired, a process
that he successfully completed in only 100 work days. He considers that career
milestone as a competency building
exercise on change management -- an experience that he would capitalize on in his succeeding posts.
In 2002, Pharmalink, a subsidiary of Zuellig
Pharma, Inc, offered him a post back
in Manila to serve as Country Manager.
And in 2008, he was appointed as
Executive VP and Chief Operating Officer of Zuellig Pharma Inc. and then
promoted to CEO after just a few years.
Today, Raymund discloses that he wakes up each
morning looking forward to come to his office, not to work but to pursue a
passion-- to give greater access to medical products and services to as many
people as possible. He knows only too well how it is like, literally and figuratively speaking,
for an important door to close right before him. He is now on a mission to open doors; he wants to help our
countrymen exercise the right to adequate and affordable healthcare.
In "Pointers for New College Graduates," Raymund shares the following pieces of advice:
·
Find your passion. Search for the industry and role that will allow you to maximize our strengths as individual.
Do not follow the crowd. While others go for what is trendy, or for
what their parents tell them, or simply follow where the money is -- go where
you know you will excel and be happy in the process.
· Seek leadership. Some people may
think that if they do things alone
they can do better. From my experience, those who succeed and achieve their
potential are those who can
connect effectively with others.
They are able to harness
the strengths of others, and in the process, they learn more rapidly and
comprehensively, and are able to excel in tasks that require depth and perspective. That connectedness is, in essence,
leadership.
·
Build competencies. This is what my father would tell me,
and what I would share with my own children: Build competencies early on in your career. Take on roles that bring out the best in you as
your experience from these will serve as strong foundation for more challenging
tasks.
Read more about Raymund's pointers for new college graduates, specifically those aspiring to join the pharmaceutical industry.
"Pointers for New College Graduates," by Gerry P. Siquijor. Available at Fully Booked, St. Pauls, Pauline Bookstores and branches of Catholic Book Center
