In our latest episode, we’re joined by Paul Steckler, Managing Director for Canopy Growth International. We discuss the challenges of fitting cannabis production into a traditional pharmaceutical medical framework, along with some of the biggest UK-centric, economic and market challenges associated with operating within this space.
Paul Steckler is the General Manager for Canopy Growth in international markets including Europe and APAC.? Paul is a seasoned pharmaceutical executive with over 20 years’ experience in commercial roles, having worked in both large and small pharmaceutical companies.
In his 15 years as Commercial Director at Pfizer, Paul successfully grew specialty brands from pre-launch to loss of exclusivity. Additionally, Paul oversaw a successful IPO while Chief Commercial Officer at Shield Therapeutics Plc., a London listed AIM specialty research-based pharmaceutical company, while simultaneously overseeing leading global commercial operations. Paul is also an eco-conscious vegetarian, avid cyclist and football coach.
- Paul has a degree in microbiology and virology but after graduating, didn’t feel compelled to become a scientist - found working selling ad space for a short period before falling into medical sales - a job which allowed him to use his qualifications, and spend time working out of the office.
- After working at Pfizer for 15 years, Paul decided the big pharma corporate world wasn't for him, so went on to work for several smaller companies where he could leverage his entrepreneurial skills.
- Three years ago, Paul became interested in Medical Cannabis after a conversation with a colleague and was immediately drawn to the challenges of working within this space.
- Paul spent time working as COO for Academy Therapeutics and Spectrum Biomedical, a joint venture between Canopy Growth and the Beckley Foundation in Oxford before it was acquired by Canopy Growth outright in 2009.
- As part of the acquisition, Paul became the European managing director for Canopy Growth where he led teams across Europe.
- Paul enjoys his job at Canopy Growth because he is able to see transformations within the lives of patients - something which he was removed from working in big pharma.
- Three pillars underpin Canopy Growth. One is quality - all Canopy Growth’s products are manufactured to GMP standards or equivalent gold standard in whichever market they operate within.
- Another is education. Canopy Growth works closely with doctors to educate around the cannabinoid system as it's not discussed within medical schools although it's been around for 3000 years.
- Whenever a new product is launched, or new therapy is understood, education is important. And it can be education for governments, regulators, patients, where appropriate, and doctors.
- The third pillar is relationships - Canopy Growth works with many stakeholders from government officials to regulators. They also work with clinics in the UK and with doctors directly. Relationships are very important because they allow feedback and insight to be given.
- Every Canopy Growth product around the world is directly driven by insight - it is an important part of the product development process.
- Understanding the needs of patients and doctors is really integral to be able to create products that have true value
- From an economic perspective, the revenue being generated by cannabis, in general, is significant. In the UK, cannabis could be over could be a 2 billion pound market, which would encourage investment into the UK would encourage further investment into building the industry.
- Canopy Growth is working with over 20 government departments around how they can work together to help address UK centric challenges within the market.
- One of the greatest challenges for medical cannabis within the UK is evidence - cannabis-based medicines are extremely complicated to gather data for because they originate from plant-based material and contain many different molecules - some of which are not greatly understood.
- There are also many challenges of trying to fit medical cannabis into the more traditional pharmaceutical model.
- Another big challenge to overcome is stigma - many people don’t understand that cannabis can be used as a medicine.
- Creating pharmaceuticals with biological materials is by nature very difficult due to variation within the plant material. A consistent natural product is so much harder to produce than a synthetic one where chemicals are manipulated and added to pills.
- Real-life evidence is also needed to gain buy-in from stakeholders - multiple parties need convincing that cannabis products are efficacious, and there is a cost-benefit to using them.
- Additional challenges within the UK include being able to export products to bigger markets, and the liability of prescribing unlicensed medicines within such a tightly controlled medical market.
“The industry is quite new, and it's exciting. It's entrepreneurial. Everyone is kind of learning as they go along”
I'm?Anuj Desai - a commercial advisor, lawyer and founder of Canverse - a strategic consultancy helping founders, entrepreneurs and businesses navigate the emerging cannabis industry.
Please follow?The Cannabis Conversation to keep up to date with news and insights from the industry, and get in touch at [email protected] to discuss how I can help your business move forward in the cannabis sector!
Independent Commercial Insurance Premium Auditor & Consultant
3 年It shouldn't fall under the traditional pharmaceutical model. Because it's an herb.