Successful Assignments

In 2018, two key senior members of the finance team at Cochlear Europe left the company in quick succession,

The Problem: While nobody is indispensable, this left a huge gap in resources, knowledge and management skills. Like any first-class international organisation, the client quickly relocated a Senior Business Controller from their head office in Sydney but despite his ability to fit seamlessly into the role, the situation required an additional pair of hands.

The Solution: Within a week of his arrival he recognised the key issues and engaged PharmAssist to assist him, working together 12-hour days to hit key deadlines and satisfy key stakeholders.

The Result: The first month’s Management Accounts were submitted on time, albeit in a summarised fashion, and from month 2, the reports became more timely, accurate and presentable.  Statutory accounts were filed with the assistance of international auditors and the accounting and reporting timetable back on track after 3 months. PharmAssist assisted until a permanent, full time Regional Accounting Manager was employed and trained and another client satisfied.

Changing circumstances often require changes in a company’s direction and in 2013 Johnson and Johnson Vision Care redesigned its operation in Turkey from a distributorship to a self-sell model.

The Problem: Turkey has many accounting nuances such as the absence of credit notes, a national uniform chart of accounts, quarterly filing Tax returns, unusual VAT rules and electronic invoicing.

The solution: Having worked in Turkey for a number of years, PharmAssist had the knowledge, skills and experience to assist with this change, spending time at the Istanbul office, while reporting back to the UK head office.

The result: Saving in costs, time and effort 

What is the Standard Cost of making a product? Well the answer of course is whatever you want it to be, and companies are always looking at ways of improving margins, increasing efficiencies and standardising costing methods worldwide in order to truly compare the cost of products between sites and between countries.

PharmAssist has assisted two of the biggest Pharma companies to plan and execute a worldwide Standard Costing Process in its sites worldwide. 

The Problem: How can you compare the cost of a product manufactured in India with one manufactured in the United States, when both sites supply a worldwide market?

The Solution: A standardised methodology for calculating Standard Costs at each site worldwide.  In one contract, a relatively simple fully absorbed cost using Labour and Machine hours where applicable, and a per Batch allocation for all other costs.  In the other company a more sophisticated Activity Based Costing system, based on utilising the full capacity available 365 days of the year, transferring capacity variance to the Balance Sheet and encouraging sites to move to a 3 shift, 7 day working pattern.

The Result: In both cases, after an initial difficult period where Standards increased and reduced by up to 300%, the Companies were able to compare costs, fill spare capacities, eliminate small batches, transfer production from site to site and close inefficient plants.

It is common for an International Pharma Company to divest its Non-Strategic products and there is a regular supply of usually smaller Companies ready to snap them up and breathe new life into what can be well recognised, but neglected brands. The downside to the transaction is that it can take from 1 to 3 years to obtain market authorisation to sell in a particular country and there is the added complexity of distribution transfer in some convoluted supply chains.

PharmAssist has assisted in a host of such projects working for both buyers and sellers, on the deals themselves, and following up on the extensive periods where the seller still has to sell the product in its own right until the buyer arranges additional headcount, manufactures validation batches, designs new packaging and obtains the regulatory permissions outlined above.

The Problem: A company may own effective products which are well past their patent period, have been replaced by more effective molecules, have lost favour with health authorities or which simply do not fit in with the current portfolio and direction of the organisation.

The Solution: There are companies throughout the world who specialise in generic products, and who see the opportunity to purchase such products (the Intellectual Property) and breathe new life into the brand through aggressive marketing, entering new markets or operating a new pricing structure.

The Result: The seller is usually keen to divest the product, gaining significant cash flow through the transaction while concentrating its efforts on its newer “Cash Cow” brands.  The buyer on the other hand usually gains significant increases in sales, cash flow and profitability through the transaction.

In 2006 the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science (KFAS) recognised the spiralling cases of Diabetes in the Middle East Region and established the Dasman Centre for the Research, Treatment and Education of Diabetes (DCRTD) in Kuwait City.

The Problem: With a brand new, state of the art facility which included a laboratory, a clinic, lecture auditorium, gymnasium, offices and even an air-conditioned running track around the roof, KFAS engaged Interhealth Canada to commission the project and turn the dream into a business.

The Solution: Interhealth Canada employed some of the finest doctors, surgeons, nurses, podiatrists, educators and associated support staff from every continent of the world and PharmAssist headed the finance and administration function, setting up the finance systems, linked to the hospital information system to ensure a smooth start-up.

The Result: After nearly 2 years, PharmAssist trained and handed over the running of the finance department to qualified local Kuwaitis since when the centre, now rebranded the Dasman Institute, has become a truly international centre for research into diabetes, as well as positioning Kuwait as a leader in the prevention and treatment of this disease.

In 2004, Bayer purchased Roche’s consumer business in a Global $3bn deal making it one of the top three over-the-counter consumer health companies in the world.

The Problem: A great acquisition, but where can you make a billion Rennies tablets and a similar number of tubes of Bepanthen cream - per year – starting in 5 months time, what machinery is required to manufacture tonnes of Sanatogen powder, how long does it take to make a vitamin drink, and what’s involved in making sun tan lotions?

The Solution: Examine each available scenario based on Net Present Value calculations - but first pop to the nearest pharmacy and buy a box of every form of every product to be manufactured.  See it, touch it, feel it, smell it and share it among the Management.  Then consider every option, which at the site in question included; increasing from a 2 to 3 shift pattern; building an extension to the factory, moving to larger premises, outsourcing to contract manufacturers, and even an audacious bid to buy the only Roche site in the country which was now redundant.

The Result: Based on a whole series of analyses over 3 months, there was no simple solution.  The plant was too old to extend upwards and there was no room to extend outwards. Specialist equipment proved expensive. Sterile environments were not available. Warehouse space was limited. A third shift involved additional supervisors, security, transport, insurance and catering as well as obvious variable costs.

In the end, based on the product routers / recipes, as much spare capacity was utilised while other larger, longer batches were outsourced.

You don’t have to be a Global Healthcare Company to manufacture pharmaceutical products to exacting standards, and PharmAssist assisted HMR when it embarked on a corporate transformation programme of divesting its Non-Strategic Sites as part of a major consolidation and cost cutting exercise.

The problem: With increasing costs, and smaller sites not receiving the attention they probably deserve, it was recognised that there are expert 3rd Party Contract Manufacturers in this world who can make a tablet, mix a cream, fill a capsule, ampoule or vial, and pack products on state of the art packaging lines, as good as anybody and at reduced prices.

The solution: From the outset, PharmAssist worked with other international consulting firms in identifying these key players as well as considering Management Buy-Outs.

The result: In two years, PharmAssist helped sell four sites.  Two to Patheon Inc (at Swindon and Bourgoin) and two as MBOs (at Osny and Istanbul).  With detailed, clear and concise Standard Costs as a result of the earlier Finance Transformation project, HMR knew the costs of the products for the new partners, knew what spare capacity they had available and entered into Supply Agreements to produce their products at predetermined prices for up to 9 years.  The Buyers, Patheon and the MBO companies, had the opportunity to cut costs further and fill spare capacity by entering into similar deals with other Big Pharma companies.

It is great introducing new systems, new processes and new ideas, but these need to be properly communicated to colleagues around the world for the implementation to be successful.

The Problem: In 2019 AstraZeneca kicked off a Manufacturing Accounting Project, establishing a new Costing, Accounting and Inventory Reporting system to be adopted at its manufacturing sites worldwide. Initially trialled and rolled out in the Asia Pacific region (China, Japan & Australia), the challenge was ensuring that not only everybody at the sites were informed of the changes, but that the blue-print was fit for purpose in Europe and the Americas

The Solution: From the earliest discussions, PharmAssist Consulting was engaged with Business Process Leads from Costing, Accounting and Inventory, in Documenting the new processes in the form of

• Policies

• AstraZeneca Standards

• Standard Operating Procedures

• Work Instructions

• Deviation and Exception Reports

• Training Material

By the time Asia Pacific was up and running a complete set of around 100 documents were published in the AZ Finance Library, leading to complete transparency of the new process for everybody from Senior Directors, through Site Managers to Junior Finance team members

The Result: Not only did we have a set of documents to enable the project to progress seamlessly around the globe, but there was a clear, unambiguous, well defined set of instructions for all existing and more importantly future employees to reference so as to fully understand their roles when performing Manufacturing Accounting