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How to resolve AdBlock issue? Clinuvel searches for answers to unaddressed disorders
By Leon Gettler, Talking Business >>
CLINUVEL Pharmaceuticals has taken significant steps forward developing innovative solutions for acute and systemic disorders affecting the skin and brain.
Clinuvel CEO Philippe Wolgen said this is a strategy that sets it apart from other pharma companies.
“We went into disorders that the pharmaceutical industry wasn’t interested in addressing and these disorders have in common that they are either affecting skin or the brain,” Dr Wolgen told Talking Business. 
“In the skin sector, we were one of the first in the world to address the impact of light and UV (ultra-violet) on the skin.
“We developed medicinal products and the first was an injectable that allows people who are intolerant to light and UV to go outdoors.”
Dr Wolgen said this was important for people who basically had to live a nocturnal existence simply because they had a genetic defect “that converts that light into negative energy”.
‘Hunting’ research strategy pays off
Dr Wolgen said this strategy had worked out really well since Clinuvel started out 20 years ago.
He said what set the company apart was that it integrated all functions in-house. This was not typical of pharmaceutical companies.
“Pharmaceutical companies are normally surrounded by a great number of service providers and other companies, but we brought all the talent and functions in-house, and we’re operating in a much leaner fashion than others,” Dr Wolgen said.
One of the key ways is to have branding and marketing in-house.
“Pharma is very different from consumer health but if you really want to do it, and there are benefits for the targeted population, you really have to find the way – and there are two ways,” he said.
“You either outsource those functions, or sell off that arm of the company, or you find the specific talent that knows about branding, marketing, positioning, communication and you bring it in-house.
“We opted for the latter, so rather than going to an agency, we built the agency in-house.”
Balancing research with consumer demand
Dr Wolgen said the company’s business model allowed it to balance pharma research with consumer demand.
“If you have 40 years of data and evidence that peptides and hormones benefit diseased populations and there is a demand for skin repair, DNA repair and prevention of skin cancer,” he said.
“If you know there is a demand and you have all the data generated as a pharmaceutical then you can take these peptide fragments and translate them into photo-cosmetic products for the wider population.
“You can only do it because you have the longevity to generate this data over time.
“So we are translating that medical knowledge into knowledge and technologies for the wider population, Dr Wolgen said.
“That’s an unusual pathway but it very much fits the strategy of the company.”
He said staff retention was the first part of the Clinuvel business model for expansion.
“We retain talent for more than a decade,” he said. “We give them programs, we develop their careers.
“Once that foundation is laid, you expand organically.
“The second stage is to buy and license technologies,” Dr Wolgen said. 
Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness
https://shows.acast.com/talkingbusiness/episodes/talking-business-44-interview-with-phillipe-wolgen-from-clin
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