Funmi, Head of Market Access
I head up the Market Access Department for my organisation, which involves creating an environment that enables the right patients to have access to our medicines at the right time and in the right place as well as working to become a valued partner with the health service.
I have a Bsc in Chemistry, Msc in Medical Biochemistry and a MBA. I have worked as a biomedical scientist within a hospital before moving to the pharmaceutical industry and working in various roles across sales, marketing and market access.
It varies but generally involves catching up on emails, meeting with my team to ensure we are on plan to deliver on our core projects, attending cross-functional meetings to provide input to our strategic plans from an access perspective, attending external meetings with key organisations.
I started as a sales representative and progressed to a field based market access role as NHS Liaison Manager and then into sales management – managing a team of representatives in the field. This was followed by a move into the office to work in marketing before progressing to more national market access roles.
I was working within the chemical pathology department of a hospital during which I met a number of pharmaceutical representatives – I was attracted to the industry as I felt it would be a good place to use my scientific background in a more commercial environment.
As part of a team
I am office based and it is a fun welcoming environment. We have lovely offices with fantastic views so the working environment as well as the people make for a great social atmosphere. We also have various social activities running at various times during the year.
Achieving my objectives as this means our products have become accessible to HCP and patients.
Yes – but I would advise waiting until you are sure of what function you want to specialise in and then get the right qualification to support that.
As a global organisation there are various opportunities at Regional and Global level within my organisation. In addition the Pharmaceutical Industry continues to grow and adapt in response to the needs of patients and the wider health environment, so the possibilities are numerous if you have the right skill set and experience.
Persistence, strategic thinking, organisational savvy and commercial acumen.