Leadership and Change: The New Chairman of the Board of ARPharM

New position: Chairman of the Board of ARPharM

[The Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Manufacturers in Bulgaria]

Introduce yourself in a few words..

My name is Pavel Kolev. For the last 3 years, I have represented the AbbVie branch in Bulgaria as a manager. AbbVie is a global leader in biopharmaceutical technologies, whose mission is to develop innovative medicines for complex health problems, improving people's lives. Our company has been a long-standing member of the Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Manufacturers in Bulgaria (ARPharM), where I have been engaged as a member of the Board of Directors (BoD) since mid-2023, and shortly thereafter in 2024, I was elected as vice-chairman. On May 14 of this year, during the regular reporting and election General Assembly, my colleagues from the member companies of the Association voted their trust in me and I had the honor of being elected as chairman of the BoD for the next two-year term.

Share with us some highlights from your career development so far?

I am married with two children and a cat. By education, I am a pharmacist and my career path began during my student years at the end of the last century, when I worked in pharmacies and wholesale drug distributors. After graduating, I continued my professional development in the pharmaceutical industry. I started first for a year at Sofarma, then seven years at AstraZeneca, and for the last 13 years I have been part of my current company, having held various positions in the sales and marketing structure of the Bulgarian branch. Between 2016 and my return to the local office in 2022, I held international positions at the EEMEA headquarters in Paris and the global team in Chicago. Before the war in Ukraine, I spent six months in our branch in Russia, where I led the team responsible for our portfolio for autoimmune inflammatory diseases. Managing the branch in my home country is a job I have dreamed of and I find it extremely challenging and interesting.

What motivates you to take on this new role and what are your main goals in the position?

The environment in healthcare in Bulgaria is becoming more challenging. Our company has always been at the forefront of the industry in terms of ambition for positive change in the environment, to make it more predictable, more transparent, and better for all stakeholders – patients, doctors, institutions, and pharmaceutical manufacturers. The goal of these efforts is to ensure equal, fast, and easy access to innovative therapy, which in most cases has no alternative, saves lives, and significantly improves the quality of life of patients in need. It is with this motivation and the desire to build on my contribution that I applied and I am grateful to have been elected as a member and chairman of the BoD of the Association. This is a huge recognition, a great opportunity, and an even greater challenge for me and the company I represent.

What professional or personal qualities do you think will helpyou succeed in your new position?

In our pursuit as an Association to collaborate not only with all member companies of ARPharM, but also with all participants in the complex ecosystem of healthcare in Bulgaria, including institutions such as the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), as well as with scientific medical societies and organizations such as the Bulgarian Medical Union, the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union, the Bulgarian Generic Pharmaceutical Association (BGPharmA), the patient sector, and other partners, I believe that the most essential qualities for success will be dialogue, open communication, seeking joint solutions, ethical behavior, and transparency. My focus is entirely on finding solutions and alternatives that lead to objective results and progress. This can only be achieved by building trust among partners, understanding their positions, and engaging in dialogue where clear arguments and constructive proposals are presented.

What challenges do you expect to face and how do you approach change management?

Change management is a topic that is extremely close to me both in the company I work for and in the association I am engaged with. I firmly believe that the key to successful change is awareness and the answer to the question “Why?”. Once the need for change is recognized, its implementation is much easier. In my opinion, dedicating and investing efforts and energy in this first phase of change brings the greatest return and increases the chances of success. Regarding the challenges I expect to encounter along the way, I would like to note that the most typical reaction we owe our evolution as intelligent beings and encounter with every change is denial, due to fear and conformity. This is our natural response to everything “new” and rather unknown. Therefore, communication, openness, and trust are the most important components for overcoming this barrier to accepting change.

What is yourapproach to teamwork and building a strong internal culture?

In our organization, we apply the philosophy of matrix leadership, which is based on communication, interaction, and collaboration, rather than on titles, positions, and hierarchy. This approach has taught me that successful teamwork depends primarily on respect, empathy, trust, shared goals, and personal example. Whether within the company or in the Association, the most successful teams I know have firmly established this foundation to achieve solid results. The main opponent of this approach is the ego, putting personal goals above team goals, actions driven by emotion, and hidden motives. Although this may sound theoretical and utopian, I am deeply convinced, perhaps even naively, that this is the right direction. When it comes to culture, we can dedicate an entire section, but generally, everything valid for teamwork applies to creating a good internal culture. I know for sure that teamwork and internal culture are closely related and require constant dedication and a lot of effort. Here, awareness is also a key component and catalyst for success in these areas.

What would you like people to say about you in the company after a few months?

In my career development, I had to move to the USA, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, President Trump canceled all work visas during his first term. After that, I moved with my whole family to Russia and we experienced the beginning of the war ... I hope that my team in the Bulgarian branch of the company does not see me as a symbol of disaster, but as a person who manages to change even with little the organization and the environment in a positive direction. This is where my conscious dedication to ARPharM comes in and my efforts behind the three main priorities as chairman:

·       Maintaining access to innovative therapies for Bulgarian patients

·       Optimizing and creating a mechanism for predictability and sustainability of the health budget, which is reliable for all stakeholders – for patients, for doctors, for the pharmaceutical industry, and for NHIF

·       Positioning ourselves as a trusted partner for all members of the Association and for all other participants in healthcare in Bulgaria.

I will be happy if in a few years we can say, that as an Association we have managed to improve the environment in healthcare and with this we have helped more patients to access the necessary therapy at the right moment, in the easiest way for them, their relatives, and their treating physicians.