Dr. Michael Neoptolemou: A Journey From Academia To Transforming The Pharmaceutical Industry
Dr. Michael Neoptolemou
CEO & MD
A visionary leader, Dr. Neoptolemou possesses a unique multidimensional professional experience. He savors the priceless experience of working in academia, the public sector, and now the manufacturing industry. Encrusting the triangle of theory, policy-making, and implementation throughout his career helps him have a holistic view of the pharmaceutical ecosystem and innovate meaningfully. “What inspires me the most is to do meaningful things, create and innovate wherever I am,” he says. CEO Insights is delighted to engage in an exclusive interaction with him. Dr. Neoptolemou walks us through his experience in the industry and the latest endeavors of the organization.
In conversations with Dr. Michael Neoptolemou, CEO & former Managing Director, Remedica Group.
“I am a guide and not a boss to my colleagues. I treat my colleagues as my family and act as a facilitator helping them to best do their jobs”
How would you define Remedica as an organization and its current position in the industry?
Remedica is first a great place to be. It is an organization that is going through various transformative phases, and under the new shareholding, I am very confident that in five years’ time, Remedica will be a very successful organization, an example to be for many others abroad.
As an organization, over the past three decades, we have undergone various stages of evolution. Today, Remedica specializes in the development, production, and sale of highquality, safe, and efficacious pharmaceutical products for human use. Our pharmaceutical products are distributed in more than 160+ countries worldwide. Our product portfolio consists of more than 300 generic, branded generics(Gx&Gx+) , and over-the-counter(OTC)products. We also offer products from various therapeutic categories, including antineoplastic agents, antivirals, cardiovascular, central nervous system agents, gastrointestinal agents, respiratory tract agents, dermatological agents, and anti-infective products. We also market a number of other health and care products.
Currently, Remedica has five state-of-the-art factories, all of which have been inspected and approved by the health authorities, including those of Cyprus, Germany, and Denmark, as well as those of the United Kingdom, Russia, Australia (TGA), Brazil (ANVISA), Japan (PMDA), and many more to mention.
How would you describe your leadership style, and what values are most important to you as a leader? Also, what are the areas you focus on within the organization?
I am a guide and not a boss to my colleagues. I treat my colleagues as my family and act as a facilitator helping them to best do their jobs. Being humble and approachable is very important in large organizations like Remedica. You embed the ownership mentality across the company, which is very important for success. On the other hand, discipline prevails naturally, an ingredient which is inevitable in the Pharma Industry, through codes and proper enforcement of those .
I believe it is always important to constantly recruit talented employees who possess the right competencies and strong focus. Those traits are crucial for a successful pharmaceutical business. A strategic recruitment policy and effective talent management are important to optimizing resources. Additionally, the implementation of the right systems can lead to more efficient and timely operations if it is coupled with the right strategic decisions regarding product and market portfolio management. We at Remedica have long adopted this triangle of success. This allows us to secure our daily operations and short term and long term goals and, in turn, drive our growth sustainably.
What has been the success mantra that constantly helps you arrive at positive outcomes?
I would say there are three aspects to this: clear direction, effort, and perseverance. We are in the business of alleviating suffering and constantly improving the quality of human life through our high quality, safe, and efficacious generic pharmaceuticals and other health and care products promptly and at a reasonable cost. Focusing on this mission with well-directed efforts and perseverance has been the cornerstone of our success.
What gives you the confidence to take Remedica to the next level? What are your short and long-term goals as the CEO?
We have proven that Remedica can respond to customers’ demands timely and swiftly, whereas others cannot deliver, and we are always
Our approach to CSR is based on our vision and mission statements, which focus on constantly and relentlessly improving the health and lives of people world wide by providing high-quality, safe, and efficacious pharmaceutical products at affordable prices
How would you describe your leadership style, and what values are most important to you as a leader? Also, what are the areas you focus on within the organization?
I am a guide and not a boss to my colleagues. I treat my colleagues as my family and act as a facilitator helping them to best do their jobs. Being humble and approachable is very important in large organizations like Remedica. You embed the ownership mentality across the company, which is very important for success. On the other hand, discipline prevails naturally, an ingredient which is inevitable in the Pharma Industry, through codes and proper enforcement of those .
I believe it is always important to constantly recruit talented employees who possess the right competencies and strong focus. Those traits are crucial for a successful pharmaceutical business. A strategic recruitment policy and effective talent management are important to optimizing resources. Additionally, the implementation of the right systems can lead to more efficient and timely operations if it is coupled with the right strategic decisions regarding product and market portfolio management. We at Remedica have long adopted this triangle of success. This allows us to secure our daily operations and short term and long term goals and, in turn, drive our growth sustainably.
What has been the success mantra that constantly helps you arrive at positive outcomes?
I would say there are three aspects to this: clear direction, effort, and perseverance. We are in the business of alleviating suffering and constantly improving the quality of human life through our high quality, safe, and efficacious generic pharmaceuticals and other health and care products promptly and at a reasonable cost. Focusing on this mission with well-directed efforts and perseverance has been the cornerstone of our success.
What gives you the confidence to take Remedica to the next level? What are your short and long-term goals as the CEO?
We have proven that Remedica can respond to customers’ demands timely and swiftly, whereas others cannot deliver, and we are always
there. We have been investing heavily in oncology and antiretroviral areas for the future and focus now is on reinforcing our portfolio coverage with more added value generics.Hence with a robust infrastructure, we expect our global growth to be led by these areas, amongst other categories like the commercial excellence.
When it comes to goals, our short term goals are to transform the company within the next three years horizontally and vertically and get the foundation ready for the long term strategy, which is to make Remedica one of the biggest pharma companies.
Remedica, over the years, has won several awards for its CSR initiatives, including the ‘Active Citizen Award,' the ‘Gold Environment Protector Award,' and the ‘CSR Award,' among others. What’s your CSR vision, and what are the initiatives you undertake in this regard?
Our approach to CSR is based on our vision and mission statements, which focus on constantly and relentlessly improving the health and lives of people worldwide by providing highquality, safe and efficacious pharmaceutical products at affordable prices. In fact,every good thought starts from our home. We breathe the ethical codes of conduct in all our practices transparency and trust amongst employees as well as with our customers, suppliers, and trading partners. In particular, Remedica places a strong emphasis on employees’ well-being and promotes professional development through frequent training programs.
Our CSR activities outside the organization encrust a wide horizon starting right from donating pharmaceutical products (in Cyprus and abroad)to providing financial and in kind support to several non-governmental organizations and other nonprofit institutions mainly related to health. Among other activities, we also fund the Remedica Open Access Author Fund to financially support academic publications in open access journals and books, where the content of the articles is freely available online.
Based on your strong professional experience what advice would you give to the upcoming leaders in the same industry?
You need to have Perseverance and Resilience in your professional life. The world and the market dynamics are constantly changing, and what seems to be the rule today can be the exemption tomorrow.
Dr. Michael Neoptolemou, CEO & Managing Director, Remedica
Dr. Michael’s educational background covers various dimensions, from MSc in HR & OB to MPA and MBA and a Ph.D. in Mechanical/Aero Engineering. A visionary leader and an award winning entrepreneur, he possesses a unique multi-dimensional professional experience. Dr. Michael savors the priceless experience of working in academia, the public sector, and now the manufacturing industry. Encrusting the triangle of theory policy making and implementation throughout his career helps him have a holistic view of the pharmaceutical ecosystem and innovate meaningfully.
•Hobbies: Riding Cars and Motorbikes
•Favorite Cuisine: Mediterranean
•Favorite Book: 100 Years
•Favorite Travel Destination: Greece
When it comes to goals, our short term goals are to transform the company within the next three years horizontally and vertically and get the foundation ready for the long term strategy, which is to make Remedica one of the biggest pharma companies.
Remedica, over the years, has won several awards for its CSR initiatives, including the ‘Active Citizen Award,' the ‘Gold Environment Protector Award,' and the ‘CSR Award,' among others. What’s your CSR vision, and what are the initiatives you undertake in this regard?
Our approach to CSR is based on our vision and mission statements, which focus on constantly and relentlessly improving the health and lives of people worldwide by providing highquality, safe and efficacious pharmaceutical products at affordable prices. In fact,every good thought starts from our home. We breathe the ethical codes of conduct in all our practices transparency and trust amongst employees as well as with our customers, suppliers, and trading partners. In particular, Remedica places a strong emphasis on employees’ well-being and promotes professional development through frequent training programs.
Our CSR activities outside the organization encrust a wide horizon starting right from donating pharmaceutical products (in Cyprus and abroad)to providing financial and in kind support to several non-governmental organizations and other nonprofit institutions mainly related to health. Among other activities, we also fund the Remedica Open Access Author Fund to financially support academic publications in open access journals and books, where the content of the articles is freely available online.
Based on your strong professional experience what advice would you give to the upcoming leaders in the same industry?
You need to have Perseverance and Resilience in your professional life. The world and the market dynamics are constantly changing, and what seems to be the rule today can be the exemption tomorrow.
Dr. Michael Neoptolemou, CEO & Managing Director, Remedica
Dr. Michael’s educational background covers various dimensions, from MSc in HR & OB to MPA and MBA and a Ph.D. in Mechanical/Aero Engineering. A visionary leader and an award winning entrepreneur, he possesses a unique multi-dimensional professional experience. Dr. Michael savors the priceless experience of working in academia, the public sector, and now the manufacturing industry. Encrusting the triangle of theory policy making and implementation throughout his career helps him have a holistic view of the pharmaceutical ecosystem and innovate meaningfully.
•Hobbies: Riding Cars and Motorbikes
•Favorite Cuisine: Mediterranean
•Favorite Book: 100 Years
•Favorite Travel Destination: Greece