Q&A with Jay Gaines, CMO at Forrester

MEDIA 7 | November 28, 2019

Ed Breault, Chief Marketing Officer at Aprimo is a marketer with over 18 years of industry experience. At Aprimo, Ed is responsible for the global brand and growth which includes all Paid/Owned/Earned media, Brand Experience, Product Marketing, Industry Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Strategic Communications, Content Marketing, Analyst Relations, Alliance Marketing, Public Relations, Events, Demand Generation and Account-Based Marketing. MEDIA 7: What’s your superpower? ED BREAULT: I would say it’s applying the full spectrum of art and science that is required in marketing today. Not just left or right brained, but whole-brained strategy. Being human yet data-driven and really understanding numbers and (the right) metrics to make connections to business drivers. Add storytelling to that, so I can effectively communicate to my team, the CEO and CFO as well as my Board of Directors on those metrics, and connecting all that we are doing in marketing to the mission of the business. Then quickly shifting gears to the art and creative aspects of marketing that are required to engage an audience and tell great commercial stories that take complex concepts and craft them in a way that is interesting for people to pay attention to. I have to be the ultimate point of truth for the brand. M7: At Aprimo, how have marketing leadership roles and responsibilities evolved over the past few years? EB: There are so many dimensions needed by marketing leaders today. There are several elements driving this evolution, it’s the new experience battlefront that is emerging and also marketers themselves driving changes. From a market perspective, there is a clear appetite for disruption and consumers are wanting more experiential elements to their buying experience and interactions with brands. Take a few direct to consumer disruptions like trialing products in-home, purchasing directly from a brand or even wanting to ensure that the producer’s trade practices are in line with the buyer’s or even a regulator’s for that matter. Then we want to try before we buy, and we emotionally care about the supply chain of products. Do we TRUST this brand to do business with them? Behind all of this is a story that needs to be told, and it is those marketers who know their audience well and make connections that will win the commercial game. Back to the marketer, there are so many diverse backgrounds that marketers bring now and I’m really intrigued by those who have unconventional backgrounds because they contribute something uniquely new to the field. I love hearing about the marketer’s journey.

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MEDIA 7 | November 21, 2019

Amy Barzdukas, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer at Poly is a marketing and communications leader with extensive experience in setting strategy, shifting perceptions, advising customers, digital marketing, revenue marketing, integrated marketing communications, and public relations in highly competitive product arenas. Amy is known for her ability to create and execute winning turnarounds on a global scale. MEDIA 7: What inspired you to get into marketing? AMY BARZDUKAS: I was always destined for marketing, even if I didn’t know it. As a child, I collected promotional brochures. I was fascinated by how the words and pictures were used to drive action. My first job was as an advertising copywriter, and I’ve never looked back. M7: How is Poly redefining the video conferencing experience for modern businesses? AB: We’re in an unprecedented time of change in our industry. Voice and video services are moving to the cloud, and companies are changing how they approach their communications needs. Poly is the largest provider of the devices – video conferencing, audio conferencing, headphones and desk phones – you use to connect to these services so you can collaborate with your colleagues. That uniquely positions us to shape the video conferencing experience, and we’re doing so in four ways. First, Poly has made both the Zoom Rooms and the Microsoft Teams video conferencing experience better than ever with our radically simple Poly Studio X video bars that deliver these experiences with no PC or Mac required. We’ve got decades of experience in understanding what makes meetings more human – for everyone in the room and those dialing in from other locations – and we’ve packed all of that into easy-to-install, easy-to-manage, and easy-to-use all-in-one powerhouses. Second, we are bringing the world of AV and video conferencing into the modern app economy. Our Studio X series and Poly G7500 video conferencing devices run a common platform that can be updated and enhanced through a series of regular software updates. This Poly platform, built on Android, can run applications like a smartphone does today. Third, Poly has introduced innovation that makes any video conference better. Our new Poly MeetingAI features use AI and machine learning to address the distractions that hit your senses in a meeting. We make it easier to hear what’s being said by blocking out the annoying noises that people make while talking, and we make it easier to see what’s going on in the room with the most advanced speaker tracking and framing, and our built-in production rules. Finally, we are pricing our solutions in a way that completely resets the calculations on what it costs to outfit a room. The Studio X30, for huddle room and smaller spaces, costs just about $2,100, including the Poly TC8 touch controller. All you add is the cloud service and a monitor, and you have a room up and running for under $2,500. That’s easily under the cost of other solutions and with better audio and video quality.

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MEDIA 7 | December 5, 2019

Andrea Lechner-Becker, Chief Marketing Officer at LeadMD is an experienced Marketing and Sales Executive with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry. Skilled in Business Process, Marketo, Sales, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and IT Service Management, Andrea is also a strong business development professional and a storyteller. MEDIA 7: What inspired you to get into marketing? ANDREA LECHNER: Frankly, not having better options. I originally attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse thinking I’d major in Archaeology. I wanted to be Indiana Jones! But, after visiting the archaeology building – i.e. the cold, dark basement of the science building – where a girl sat to piece together pieces of an old Native American vase, I knew archaeology was not going to be the right path for me. And so, without being good at science and a major in art or art history was unlikely to pay my bills, I decided to go into “business”. I originally registered as a management major, but took my first marketing class and thought it was more interesting and switched my sophomore year. That was pretty much it. I’d never been involved in business classes or DECA in high school – I didn’t really know what to do or what jobs in marketing were even possible. I dumb lucked myself into it really. M7: As a storyteller, do you relate the brand to a story or story to the brand? AL: Both? Neither? I think there are stories in every brand, because there are people working on the brand and people engaging with the brand and people using what the brand creates. People, most often a single person, are at the heart of great stories. You can start with the “point” of the story you’re trying to tell. Say you have a software that help accountants better create reports for board meetings. It’s likely you’ll want to tell a success story about an accountant getting promoted to CFO in part because your software helped better communicate their work product to the board. You could have the idea for that and go looking for that story in your customers. OR, you could hear that story, and say, “That’s amazing!” and share it with customers, partners and internal people. Stories are all around us – the most important thing is to keep your ears and eyes open for finding them.

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BUSINESS INSIGHTS, PHARMA TECH

Hovione | March 21, 2023

Hovione, the specialist integrated CDMO, leader in spray drying and particle engineering, and Ripple Therapeutics, a leading ophthalmic sustained drug delivery company, have entered a strategic partnership to expand the use of Ripple's Epidel® platform beyond ophthalmic applications. The core feature of Ripple's Epidel® technology is the ability to deliver sustained-release pharmaceuticals with surface erosion release kinetics without the use of polymers or excipients. This enables higher drug loading, smaller size implants, defined and predictable biocompatible degradation products with straightforward and scalable manufacturing processes. Surface erosion-based drug release provides a highly effective way to control dose and duration. By incorporating Ripple's Epidel® platform into its toolbox, Hovione can expand its portfolio of novel drug delivery solutions to the pharmaceutical industry. "The combination of technology synergy, innovative vision and cultural fit makes collaborating with Hovione an exciting next step in the advancement of the Epidel® platform beyond the ophthalmic field," stated Dr. Wendy Naimark, Ripple co-founder and Chief Technology Officer. "Hovione's expertise in controlled, sustained drug delivery, along with their experience in chemical synthesis and pharmaceutical manufacturing, makes for a great partnership." "We are thrilled to partner with Ripple, who developed a state-of-the-art platform for sustained release," says Dr. Jean-Luc Herbeaux, Hovione's CEO. " Our shared goal is to accelerate and broaden the access to this highly innovative and enabling technology for the benefit of our pharmaceutical customers and their patients worldwide." By extending the use of the Epidel® platform beyond ocular applications, this partnership will enable the development of a diverse range of new products with optimal sustained release profiles. About Hovione Hovione is an international company with over 60 years of experience in pharmaceutical development and manufacturing operations. As a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) with a fully integrated offering of services for drug substances, drug product intermediates and drug products. The company has four FDA inspected sites in the USA, Portugal, Ireland and China and development laboratories in Lisbon, Portugal and New Jersey, USA. Hovione provides pharmaceutical customers services for the development and compliant manufacture of innovative drugs, including highly potent compounds, and customized product solutions across the entire drug life cycle. In the inhalation area, Hovione offers a complete range of services, from API, formulation development and devices. Hovione's culture is based on innovation, quality and dependability. Hovione was the first Chemical/ Pharmaceutical Company to become a Certified B Corp, is a member of Rx-360, EFCG and participates actively in industry quality improvement initiatives to lead new global industry standards. About Ripple Therapeutics Ripple Therapeutics Corporation is a clinical stage, privately held company that is focused on ophthalmic therapeutics with controllable, sustainable drug delivery. The core feature of Ripple's Epidel™ technology is the ability to engineer sustained-release pharmaceuticals with surface erosion release kinetics without the use of polymers or excipients. Ripple's novel therapeutics provide for better outcomes for patients, easier management of care for physicians and lower costs for payors. Ripple has a full product pipeline in development.

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BUSINESS INSIGHTS, PHARMA TECH

Businesswire | March 29, 2023

Simulations Plus, Inc. a leading provider of modeling and simulation software and services for pharmaceutical safety and efficacy, today announced that it established a strategic research collaboration with the Sino-American Cancer Foundation (SACF). This collaboration will leverage Simulations Plus’ staff and Artificial Intelligence-driven Drug Design technology in the ADMET Predictor® software platform to support the discovery and design of novel inhibitors of methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 2 (MTHFD2), an emerging cancer target. Per the terms of the collaboration, Simulations Plus will develop quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models for efficacy against MTHFD2, using information from SACF as well as academic and patent literature. The biologists, computational and medicinal chemists in the Early Drug Discovery Services team at Simulations Plus will work with the researchers at SACF to define the multi-objective parameters against which the lead molecule(s) will be optimized. The new AIDD Module in ADMET Predictor® will then be employed to generate libraries of virtual compounds that are optimized for potency and other chosen parameters. The teams will select promising candidates for synthesis and testing, and ensuing rounds of QSAR model building and AIDD optimization will be performed until the milestone criteria in the collaboration agreement are achieved. “We value the trust and confidence SACF has in our team and AI technology to complement and accelerate conventional drug design and lead optimization processes,” said Dr. Jeremy Jones, Principal Scientist at Simulations Plus and project lead. “By combining their drug discovery expertise with our algorithmic and data science know-how, we are confident we will successfully support their hit-to-lead target development activities.” As part of this agreement, SACF will provide upfront funding to Simulations Plus to design a set number of compounds for efficacy against MTHFD2 which will be exclusive to SACF. Subsequent milestone payments will be made as key research and development goals are met. “SACF has had an active interest in AI for de novo design for some time, and we have found a trusted partner in Simulations Plus to help us integrate this into our research,” added Dr. Frank Luh, CEO of SACF. “Scientists from the two organizations will work side-by-side to combine SACF’s data with all that Simulations Plus offers to identify the next generation of compounds that could help in the treatment of cancer.” John DiBella, SLP Division President, said, “The Early Drug Discovery Services offering at Simulations Plus is tailor made for this type of partnership, where our team of experts, including computational, medicinal, and cheminformatics specialists, provide end-to-end AI-driven drug discovery and optimization support to complement the SACF team. Simulations Plus continues to invite future collaborations which benefit organizations and, most importantly, the global communities we serve.” About Simulations Plus, Inc. Serving clients worldwide for more than 25 years, Simulations Plus is a leading provider in the biosimulation market providing software and consulting services supporting drug discovery, development, research, and regulatory submissions. We offer solutions that bridge machine learning, physiologically based pharmacokinetics, quantitative systems pharmacology/toxicology, and population PK/PD modeling approaches. Our technology is licensed and applied by major pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and regulatory agencies worldwide.

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CPD AND LEARNING

Miravo Healthcare | March 16, 2023

Nuvo Pharmaceuticals Inc., which operates as Miravo Healthcare (Miravo), and Searchlight Pharma Inc., a Canadian specialty firm, have recently announced the closing of the previously announced plan of arrangement of Miravo with Searchlight. As per the arrangement terms, Searchlight acquired all the outstanding common shares of Miravo in exchange for $1.35 per share in cash, and the Miravo common shares will be removed from the Toronto Stock Exchange. Miravo will also apply to cease being a reporting issuer in each of the Canadian provinces. The registered shareholders of Miravo must complete, sign and return the letter of transmittal and share certificate(s) to TSX Trust Company, the depositary, to receive their compensation under the arrangement. Non-registered shareholders will receive their compensation through their intermediary. Before the Arrangement, Searchlight did not possess any Company Shares. Searchlight bought 11,388,282 Company Shares, representing 100% of the issued and outstanding Company Shares, for $1.35 per Company Share in conjunction with the arrangement. Searchlight Pharma Inc., President and CEO, Mark Nawacki, commented, "Today marks the beginning of a new chapter for Miravo as it officially combines with Searchlight and continues as a private company." He further emphasized, "Searchlight plus Miravo will be a diversified, large and strong company – based on IQVIA CDH sales data, we will rank in the top three of Canadian specialty pharma companies – and this positions us well to continue to execute our successful business model and to deliver on our leadership objective in the sector. On behalf of the Searchlight team, I express our thanks to all Miravo stakeholders for their cooperation throughout this acquisition process, and I warmly welcome our new Miravo colleagues to the Searchlight family." (Source – Business Wire) About Miravo Healthcare Miravo Healthcare, formerly known as Nuvo Pharmaceuticals Inc., is a Canadian specialty pharmaceutical company that focuses on developing and commercializing innovative therapies. Its mission is to improve patient's quality of life by providing them with safe and effective treatments for chronic conditions such as pain, inflammation, and addiction. Miravo Healthcare's portfolio includes a range of prescription drugs, over-the-counter products, and medical devices used in various therapeutic areas, including pain management, dermatology, and women's health. The company's flagship product is Pennsaid, a topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to treat knee osteoarthritis. It is committed to sustainability and social responsibility, and the company's initiatives include reducing its environmental footprint, supporting local communities, and promoting diversity and inclusion. With a focus on innovation and patient care, it continues making significant contributions to the pharmaceutical industry in Canada and beyond.

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