By the time Oxford PharmaGenesis closed the book on 2022, the agency had effected a tidy 10% jump in North American revenue, to $35.9 million from 2021’s take of $32.5 million. It also grew its staff size from 379 people at the year’s outset to 450 at its conclusion; that sum pushed past 500 in the first half of 2023.
The agency’s goal for this year’s back nine, then, shouldn’t surprise anyone: more growth.
To facilitate this, Oxford PharmaGenesis has restructured its board of directors. “We had a board of three people —
Richard [White, the company’s chief operating officer], me and our chairman [Graham Shelton] — and we’ve expanded that to eight,” reports CEO Christopher Winchester. The expansion, he believes, better positions the organization to take advantage of opportunities that have recently presented themselves.
“Now the board is international, and it’s more diverse in many ways,” Winchester continues. “It gives us a great chance to involve more people in discussions about the future direction of the company.”
Another goal of the broader restructuring was to decentralize authority — and in so doing, create a more responsive agency. “We’ve put into place a regional leadership team and regional leads, and that has enabled us to create local management teams. It’s about evolving and empowering people so that decisions are made as close to the client as possible.”
Some 85% of Oxford PharmaGenesis’ 2022 growth was concentrated among existing clients, including Ipsen and Novartis. Among the 40 new assignments are a half-dozen for AstraZeneca brands and 13 for Takeda — companies that already ranked among the agency’s five biggest clients. Other additions included engagements with Gilead, UCB, Chiesi, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.
White, however, points to the agency’s burgeoning relationship with Pfizer as an especially significant development.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity, and it marks the maturing of our operation in the U.S.,” he explains. “We’ve engaged with Pfizer in the past, but we didn’t have the U.S. footprint and experience set …. It needs to know that you have the scale and the expertise. So it’s exciting that we’re at a point in this country where we’re ready for Pfizer and it’s ready for us.”
Winchester agrees, adding, “Pfizer is willing to take risks —which, in an industry that can be quite conservative at times, is very refreshing.”
Oxford PharmaGenesis also took a hard look at its tactical approach during 2022. The company has reassessed its outreach to HCPs, turning at times to decidedly non-splashy but extremely effective plain-language summaries.
“Between data science and the visualizations that we’re doing, it’s less about communicating more, and instead about communicating more efficiently, succinctly and comprehensively,” says executive director, Americas Brian Falcone.
Like many agency leaders, Winchester heads into the second half of 2023 expecting to stare down a host of macroeconomic challenges. “Clients are entering a phase where budgets are a bit more constrained, so they’re looking for new ways to do things in a cost-effective manner,” he says. “At the same time, we’ve got the arrival of AI. We’re grappling with how that can add value and how it can help us be cost-effective without sacrificing quality.”
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Our marketing role model…
Miele. It’s an enduring, independent high-end brand that markets itself based on the consistent high quality of its products and continued excellence over a sustained period of time. — White
Click here to see Oxford PharmaGenesis’ Agency 100 2022 Profile.
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From the June 01, 2023 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media
