Category: Blog

This time I will share my first work/life experience in a different continent. I had an interesting job in Brazil challenging me towards different directions. I was working as a medical doctor in clinical trials and medical and regulatory affairs. In parallel I had a career as an assistant professor of chemistry and pharmaceutical sciences. I was juggling too many balls and still dreaming of building a medical practice. I could not anticipate that a successful accomplishment in regulatory affairs would call the attention of headquarters in Switzerland, and that was when I got an offer to work in Europe.

At that moment I had to make one of the hardest decisions both in my professional and personal life. It was a difficult choice. Relocating to Switzerland with my wife in the early years of our marriage meant stepping away from family, friends and colleagues. In hindsight it was scary. I felt insecure about how we would adapt to a different culture, and how I would succeed in a new environment that involved foreign languages that I was not completely familiar with. When we arrived in Switzerland, we found out that the reality was much more challenging than we had first anticipated but it was also rewarding. We had to navigate through different foreign languages and nuanced cultural differences.

Over my 6 years tenure in Basel I had two different jobs. One in global drug regulatory affairs and another in global medical affairs. I learned from my mistakes, and they were not a few! Those mistakes gave me great learning experiences that expanded my world view and opened new professional opportunities alongside personal growth. Looking back, I want to acknowledge that had it not been for the support and guidance of the mentors I had both in Brazil and in Europe, I would not have accomplished so much. I want to share some of my learnings.

• Don’t underestimate the power of being uncomfortable, be open to fresh perspectives.
• Global experiences aren’t just career moves—they shape who you are as a person.
• Dealing with new languages and new cultures gives you opportunity to improve your communication skills.
• You learn to see failures as feedback, not as defeat.
• You realize that a new and unfamiliar environment helps you to be independent.

Have you ever made a move that felt risky—but turned out to be transformational? I’d love to hear how it changed you.

In hindsight, some career moves look logical. But when you pursue those moves, things often feel uncertain, messy, and far from comfortable.

My second job in pharma was on the production floor of a plant making tablets, creams, and injectables. It was intense, precise work—but I loved how hands-on it was. The smell of solvents, the rhythm of the machines, the constant awareness that quality mattered.

At the same time, I was diving deep into pharmaceutical sciences and chemistry—eventually becoming an assistant professor at a Brazilian university. That should have been enough, nonetheless I needed more.

I wanted to build solid knowledge about pharmacology and pharmacokinetics, delving in not only skills about manufacturing and quality of medicines. I was interested in learning how innovative medicines could be developed to fulfill unmet patient needs. So, I decided to engage in something that felt like a huge risk: I enrolled in medical school.

It wasn’t easy. My life turned upside down, I had to juggle with working, teaching, studying medicine. Eventually I completed my clinical training and specialization. I got married during that time, too. It was a season full of ambition, exhaustion, and constant questioning.

That leap opened the door to my third role in the industry—this time as a physician. I began working in clinical trials, focusing on CNS and hypertension. Not long after, I found myself helping resolve difficult regulatory challenges in Brazil, at a time when the framework was still evolving. There was no roadmap. We were helping create it.

Looking back, I didn’t have a perfect plan. But I had a sense of purpose. And that made the discomfort worth it.
Here’s what I’ve learned along the way:

• Growth doesn’t happen inside the comfort zone.
• You don’t need certainty to move forward—just clarity on why you’re moving.
• You don’t need all the answers to open a new chapter—just the courage to ask better questions.
• We don’t need a green light to grow—real progress begins when we allow ourselves to stumble, learn, and keep moving forward.

In my next post, I’ll share how these experiences prepared me to step into global roles—navigating regulatory complexity across countries and cultures.

If you’ve ever taken on too much—and somehow grown through it—I’d love to hear how you did it.

When I started in the pharma industry in Brazil in 1969, I was a young chemistry technician, eager to dive into my new job working with machinery, distillation, and filtration. I couldn’t wait to apply all the technical knowledge I had worked so hard to acquire.

What I didn’t expect?
Moving 200-liter barrels of recycled solvents — heavy, sweaty, physical labor.

Here’s the twist:
My work partner was more than twice my age, with no formal education. He wasn’t just physically capable — he was more resilient, calmer, and far more skilled at getting the job done right.

He didn’t just show me how to handle heavy barrels safely — he taught me resilience, patience, and the importance of practical wisdom.

The lessons that stayed with me:

• Every job has value, no matter how small it seems.
• The biggest growth comes when you stay humble and curious.
• Respect people for their experience, not just their title.
• You don’t have to know everything — you just need to be willing to learn.

Decades later, having led international teams, these lessons still shape how I lead and work.

For anyone early in their career: there’s real value in the work you’re doing today — even if you can’t see it yet.

What’s one lesson you learned early in your career that stuck with you?
I’d love to hear.

Lately I’ve been taking time to reflect on my journey in the pharmaceutical industry — an experience that began several decades ago and continues to shape who I am today.

Looking back has offered more than nostalgia. It’s uncovered a wealth of experiences, emotions, and learnings — and most importantly, the many incredible people I’ve met along the way. I’ve had the privilege of working with brilliant colleagues, mentors, and trainers — each contributing to my growth in meaningful ways.

But the path wasn’t always clear, and I certainly didn’t start with all the answers. I began my career on the shop floor of a pharmaceutical company, working as a technician. That’s where I first learned discipline, attention to detail, and the quiet confidence that comes from doing foundational work — even when no one’s watching.

As I moved through roles in production, lab, management, general management — and even practiced as a physician for a short time — I carried something important with me: the feeling that I was constantly learning. And yes, at times, I wrestled with uncertainty and imposter syndrome. Those feelings don’t mean you’re not good enough — they often mean you care deeply and are growing.

One of the most rewarding parts of my journey has been working with people from across five continents. Each region taught me something new — about science, people, and leading with empathy. I gained a deeper appreciation for diverse perspectives and learned how to adapt while staying grounded in shared purpose. Most importantly, I deepened my knowledge of patient support and developed practical skills in this area.

I’m especially proud of the teams I’ve worked with — talented, driven individuals who inspired me daily. Even more fulfilling has been supporting others and watching them evolve into confident leaders.

Now, as the pace of change accelerates with the advent of AI, I feel the need to pause, take stock, and share. Not just the milestones — but the lessons from doubt, from the quiet wins.

In the near future, I’ll be sharing stories and personal insights — hoping they might help someone who’s just starting, feeling stuck, or wondering if they belong.

Because no one has it all figured out. We can figure it out better — together.
Let’s keep learning.

Putting an End to Medication Shortages: an Exploration

Drug shortages are occurring all over the world.

In the US, multiple and prolonged shortages of a considerable number of medicines have been felt lately. Here is an article that includes a partial list of the medication categories affected:

It’s nothing new.  The matter has preoccupied regulatory authorities for many years. In 2016, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an investigative and auditing institution of the federal US government, published this report about drug shortages:

 

A Deepening Crisis

Unfortunately, the more we learn about the shortages, the more we understand the dire consequences for patients and healthcare systems.  Despite clear indications of a deepening crisis, there are not many satisfactory explanations for why it exists.

In my opinion, multiple factors account for a worsening situation. My objective here is not to pretend to be exhaustive, but to explore some of the potential causes behind medicine shortages. Most of the problem has to do with the manufacturing technology, especially for medicines that have already been on the market for a very long time and are considered “easy to make” — so-called “commodities.”

 

The Need to Upgrade Technology

Let’s start with the basic technology used to produce “pills,” also known as “tablets.” It is old!  Solid pharmaceutical forms were already known in ancient Egypt.  The modern tablet began production in the nineteenth century.  Over time, tableting technology has improved, and with some variations, is still being widely used in many pharmaceutical plants across the world.

The problem lies with manufacturing plants that are obsolete. They need to be upgraded to meet state-of-the-art quality and safety requirements.  In many cases, the investment needed for upgrades requires a complete plant overhaul, which carries an expensive price tag.  Plants with production and quality issues have been the concern of the FDA for a long time.

As an example, in 2022 a manufacturing plant in Illinois was closed.  This is only one of a list with many cases already published in both consumer and pharmaceutical media.

 

Manufacturing Mainstay Medicines 

My intention is to open a debate aimed at proposing solutions. One solution is to accelerate the implementation of new technologies to produce medicines. Newer technologies should not be limited to innovative medicines. Many older medicines are still crucial to modern healthcare systems. They deserve to have their manufacturing reengineered.

Century-old and difficult to maintain and in many cases nonupgradeable technology should be replaced. Cut throat cut competition compounds the issue, leaving too thin a margin for medicines that have been on the market for decades. In many cases, only one manufacturer survives, leaving the supply compromised.  Such aging monopolies produce a lack of incentive for investment in outdated pharmaceutical plants, despite the critical nature of the older medicines they manufacture.

 

Intelligent Regulation

Some may argue that ever-increasing regulatory requirements are to blame. I take the opposite view. Tightening regulatory requirements reflect scientific advances and are designed to protect patients.  The solution is not to reduce regulatory requirements but to create incentives to get ahead of this vicious cycle.

Encouraging technological change would create conditions for the implementation of already existing advances in manufacturing.  Among other potential solutions, I want to note the advanced concept of continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing. It is a way to manufacture pharmaceuticals from end-to-end in a single, uninterrupted production line.

 

Continuous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

This means going from the basic ingredients to the final pill in just one process. This newer methodology would make it easier for faster and more reliable production of medicines. It would also mitigate or hopefully eliminate shortages.  Its implementation requires heavy investment in machinery, regulatory changes, training, time-consuming validation, to mention a few hurdles. The solution for this complex equation lies in the creation of motivation that goes beyond dollars.

A critical factor here is finding the right legal and regulatory path to reduce the risk to investors in building new plants.  My belief is that a concerted effort should be made to expedite regulatory pathways that will allow for faster and safer manufacture of much needed medicines, increasing the supply to meet demands.

 

Straightforward In-Depth Answers to Complex Questions

For expert guidance on issues that impact business in the medical, pharmaceutical, and biotech worlds, visit NFJ Consulting at nfjconsultor.com.

Contact us at +1-973-615-2162 (US); +55 1198112 2020 (Brazil). Or contact Nelson de Franco online here.

How I Got Here and Where We Can Take You

Now that I am starting a new chapter in my professional life, I want to share what I have learned by successfully navigating career challenges for more than four decades.  I have worked for large, global corporations both locally and on four continents, progressively moving from shop floor to general management positions.

How did I get here? There is always a short and a long answer to the question of how one takes control of one’s career. The short answer is simple. I took calculated and informed risks to reinvent myself, always something easier said than done.

I learned to nurture important hard and soft skills throughout my journey. I learned early that it’s not a big enough idea to trust your future to the career plans offered by most corporations.  Looking back, none of the corporate plans offered to me in their original form worked well.

 

Taking Control of Your Destiny

I took control of my destiny, exercised flexibility and decided what to do next by myself. Most of the road was bumpy and visibility on the way ahead was very limited. I faced different and perplexing changes over time. In the span of the last forty years a lot has happened, from dramatic technological evolution to the emergence of adaptive AI. I have seen the effects of several global financial crises.  I have witnessed different epidemics such as AIDS and the emergence of various flu strains, and Covid-19, which brought considerable transformation to my life and work styles, as it did for everyone else.

 

Interplay between Events and Business

Decades before, I was introduced to the concept of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) during a management workshop.  I was skeptical about the concept. I considered it to be just another fashionable acronym created by clever business gurus. When experience showed me that the interplay between events and ways of doing business turned out to be complex and fast-moving, then VUCA became overwhelmingly real to me.

There was no predictable path for my career. I made several attempts to plan and predict, but in the end, I learned that the most important skill I had to develop was the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. In hindsight, both my early biology classes and my business training were key to helping me deal with unpredictable obstacles. At times our professional lives mimic the dynamic evolutionary processes of natural selection; adapt or disappear.

 

Adaptability is the Key

My choice was to adapt; and I did it as I worked in different countries, faced cultural challenges, learned languages, lived under inclement weather, just to mention a few of the obstacles I had to overcome along the way. I have worked under good and bad management styles, peer pressure and competition. My background and training in medicine, pharmaceutical sciences, and business served me well. But I believe that my effort to develop and finetune soft skills and my willingness to pursue opportunities that took me out of my comfort zone were key.

As a result, perspective and adaptability informed by science and business acumen are the guiding principles NFJ Consulting offers its clients. Intelligent risk taking and the recognition that learning is a continuous process remain guideposts on the path to success for individuals and companies alike.

 

Straightforward In-Depth Answers to Complex Questions

For expert guidance on issues that impact business in the medical, pharmaceutical, and biotech worlds, visit NFJ Consulting at nfjconsultor.com.

Contact us at +1-973-615-2162 (US); +55 1198112 2020 (Brazil). Or contact Nelson de Franco online here.