(Bloomberg) -- Pascal Soriot, 65, fought off a takeover attempt of AstraZeneca Plc in the early stages of his 12-year run as chief executive officer before developing the company into a cancer drugs powerhouse and making it the London Stock Exchange’s most valuable firm.
The French-born Australian citizen spoke with Bloomberg about what it takes to lead a global pharmaceutical company, the future of obesity drugs and why he thinks Elon Musk’s idea of going to Mars is a good one — just not for him. The transcript has been edited for brevity.
Bloomberg: You aim to almost double sales to $80 billion by 2030. Is achieving that goal going to be about getting it right on cancer or moving faster on obesity?
Soriot: Our company doesn’t really rely on one or two or three products. We have today 11, 12 blockbuster products that have exceeded $1 billion in sales. By 2030, we think we’ll have more than 20, maybe 25 blockbusters. Having said that, mostly it’ll come from cancer for about half of our company. The other half will be coming from cardiovascular disease, immunology and rare diseases.
Are you happy with a vision that focuses more on cancer than obesity, given the excitement around weight-loss drugs?
Obesity is an important aspect of the pharmaceutical industry, of course, and we are investing in it. But what we see today is the first wave of obesity management. The future will be about bringing to patients medicines that will help them lose more fat and less muscle. Durability of the weight loss is also another dimension to work on.
What we have today are injectable medicines — and they are great medicines — but what that means is that they are more expensive and access for developing countries is more limited because of cost. The future will be, I believe, made of these injectable medicines, of course for some patients in some countries, but also oral medicines that you can deliver to patients at a more affordable cost that are easier to take and that you can help the whole world benefit from. And that’s really where our global footprint and our strengths in the emerging markets will benefit us.
How far are we away from completely personalized cancer treatment?
It’s very much the future because cancer is a very complex disease that continues to adapt as you try to treat it. Most of the time it’s a very specific group of patients who will benefit from your medicine. I think the future will be made of even more targeted medicines, and it’ll also be made of combinations for patients who are more advanced.
Your tenure at Astra has meant rebuilding the pipeline, pivoting toward oncology and fighting off Pfizer’s takeover attempt. One day somebody else will lead the business. Will they need the same skills?
Things are always evolving, but fundamentally our industry is really about innovation. I think the future will be made of people and leaders who focus on innovation, believe in science, believe in investing in R&D, believe in creating a common purpose for the organization. I think it’s also made of leaders who are prepared to take risks. These have to be calculated risks, of course, not silly risks. And finally, also people who are resilient. Our industry is complicated, it’s risky; our company is large and getting even larger and there’s always something happening — good most of the time, sometimes bad, and you have to be resilient.
To become the leader you are now, what events shaped you?
The takeover attempt 10 years ago now was an event that shaped me, but also shaped the entire organization because it really showed the importance of having the entire team on one page, working toward the same goal and fighting to prove that they are right and they can deliver value if they stick to the mission.
And finally… What are you reading, watching or listening to that has left an impression?
Something that recently made an impression on me is Elon Musk announcing that he’s going to send humans to Mars. The reason it’s impressive is that I think it’s another technological feat, it’s belief in science. It’s also the value of making people dream, setting a big goal and then stretching and trying to achieve it.
Of course there are reasons to doubt that what is announced is possible, but I believe it will be because so far he has delivered on every one of his big goals.
And how about you? Will you be going to Mars?
I might not go to Mars now because I love Earth too much. But I still respect this big ambition and this big dream.
(Updates to expand on fourth answer. An earlier version corrected wording in the second answer and removed a reference to succession in the introduction.)
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