Sector discussion meeting – 19th February 2024

Held on Monday 19th February 2024 at 16:30 CET via Zoom conference call, members of the Association meet to hold a Sector Discussion meeting on Health Care; Pharma; Wellbeing; and Personal Services, with the participation of 18 members.

• The goal of these meetings is to exchange information, help each other, and share what we are currently working on to see if we can collaborate. In order to strengthen relationships between members, it is important to have API and each other in mind while working day to day.
• Presentation conducted by María Nicholson, Vittorio Villa and Santiago Tarín.
• ST starts by sharing that this sector is one of the main ones in Master Consulting. In Spain, it is hard for the Healthcare sector to attract talent, especially for charities because of the lower salaries than in other companies. Therefore, talent is attracted with vocation and purpose. In Pharma the salaries are lower than they used to be in Spain and Portugal, since big companies can hire internationally. Master Consulting also has international clients. The pharma logistics business, such as supplying active ingredients, is expanding and constitutes a big market.
• MN asks about the scarcity of surgeons. Does Spain allow surgeons from other countries, or does there need to be an homologation of the certification? The answer is that the homologation of doctor’s certificates from South America is becoming easier. What Master Consulting is finding harder is to look for specialists in specific types of surgery.
• MN prepared some research and facts. The US has the largest Pharmaceutical market. Latin America accounts for only 4% of the Global Market. Argentina is the 6% of the Latin America market. In Argentina national labs are the most prevalent of the market, because of the political and economic circumstances. Local labs are specialized in the production of generic non-brand drugs when patents from branded drugs expire. In the beginning of her career MN worked mostly for international clients, but currently national companies are the ones she works with the most, many of them family companies. She has also collaborated with various start-ups.
• Two main trends in the Pharma Industry according to MN are the personalized and precision medical treatments and procedures, as well as the growth of genetics applied to medicine
• There are two hiring trends as well: increased demand for data scientists and bioinformatics and the emergence of AI and machine learning. One of the key hiring capabilities is the ability to adapt to and appreciate the changes and tech developments.
• KM shares that in the US companies are trying to implement telehealth and telemedicine practices. He asks MN if she finds herself trying to get international professionals to work for Argentinian companies. MN shares that they don’t, but the other way around instead: Argentina is exporting a lot of talent. Lots of start-ups are appearing in Argentina, despite the funding these start-ups get is way lower than the investments startups get in other countries such as the US.
• VV shares that the market in Italy is very local and fragmented, mostly in Pharma and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, as well as clinics, diagnostic centres and retail healthcare (dental offices, veterinary services, care homes for the elderly, etc.). When a Private Equity organisation invests in this sector, Villa & Partners help staff the project. 
• VV has worked in various processes of reconfiguration and consolidation of different firms in the sector, as well as mergers between companies. They don’t work on medical searches but on staffing the other positions needed in the sector. They have also worked on other areas such as pharma packaging and hospital waste management.

Next meeting will be held on Monday 18th March, with Ken McGovern, Sarah Thewlis and Santiago Tarín conducting the discussion on Best Practices in the Education, Non-Profit and Charities sector.