MSD "Will care for employees and new drug reimbursement"

Keven Peters, Managing Director at MSD Korea

“Submitted an unprecedented cost-sharing plan for Keytruda…hope to pass deliberations by Review Committee for Cancer Diseases in July”

“Have strengthened communication with employees after spinoff… will listen and accept their opinion”

Keven Peters, Managing Director at MSD Korea

Apart from its positives and negatives, MSD (known as Merck in the U.S.) is a company apt at ‘adaptation.’ MSD, which first cut its appearance in circulatory, respiratory drugs, and vaccines, became a leader in the field of diabetes in the 2000s with the introduction of its Januvia(sitagliptin), a DPP-4 inhibitor.

 

In 2010, MSD became a sensation with the release of its PD-1 inhibitor ‘Keytruda(pembrolizumab),’ marking the start of the era of cancer immunotherapies.

 

MSD’s forward-looking eye that allowed for the launch and success of various first-in-class drugs regardless of the disease area, is an undeniable strength of MSD.

 

However, MSD had also been in the throes of change from the adaptation process.

 

Last year, the company had officially announced the completion of its spin-off of Organon.

 

In the process of the spinoff, MSD suffered considerable labor-management conflict.

 

Also, MSD is in a 3-year back and forth with the authorities regarding the reimbursement expansion of its lead product Keytruda to first-line treatment in lung cancer.

 

Amid such change, MSD Korea had welcomed a new head to its office in November last year.

 

Keven Peters, the new Managing Director at MSD Korea, who has come to head the Korean subsidiary after serving in the Thailand subsidiary, had jumped in to resolve the pending issues, signing a collective agreement with the union and holding meetings with the government to allow for the reimbursement of Keytruda.

 

Dailypharm met with the new Managing Director Kevin Peters to hear about his seven months in office.

 

-You have been very busy since you took office.

 

Let’s first discuss the labor-management conflict issue.

 

What efforts have you made to resolve the conflict that arose in the spinoff process? As you know, we have signed the 1st collective agreement in January.

 

I am proud that we were able to reach a mutual agreement after close discussions with the labor union.

 

Also, I plan to visit our 4 local offices in Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon, and Busan to communicate with the employees there starting early July.

 

I will be sharing the company’s stories there and will hold an ear out to what our local employees have to say on each matter.

 

Also, I plan to humbly take the advice that they may have to offer.

 

My top priority is to have employees take an interest in our company and engage them in company activities.

 

I am doing my best to listen to what all our stakeholders have to say.

 

-You should be quite well-read on Korea’s drug pricing policy due to the situation with Keytruda.

 

What do you think about Korea’s policy? From my 7 months of experience here, I felt that the HCPs and the government in Korea have a strong will to reimburse drugs.

 

Of course, there’s the wish that reimbursements could be discussed more quickly.

 

As you know, we are in the process of discussing increasing the accessibility of Keytruda.

 

With lung cancer patients in 52 countries around the globe already using Keytruda as first-line therapy, I hope that our Korean patients can also have improved access to the drug as soon as possible.

 

Increasing accessibility of Keytruda is an issue for consideration for all governments around the world.

 

I think it is important for the key stakeholders including the government, companies, and HCPs to cooperate and collaborate to find a better way to increase the accessibility of the drug.

 

-It seems that you have some regrets regarding the ‘quickness’ of the reimbursement approval process in Korea.

 

In fact, reimbursement discussions for Keytruda first-line have been ongoing for over 3 years now.

 

Efforts both ways, not only the government but the company’s efforts, are also required for a successful resolution of the issue.

 

And as you know, there have been many arguments over the inadequacy of the cost-sharing plan that was proposed by the company. What I can promise now is that MSD will continue to cooperate with the government and healthcare officials to ensure that our patients can receive the optimal treatment.

 

The company has submitted a financial sharing plan to the Review Committee for Cancer Diseases that proposes an unprecedented level of cost-sharing by the company, based on which we hope to see progress in Keytruda’s reimbursement expansion within a few weeks.

 

-From what I know, the global investment in Keytruda is nearly 15 trillion won.

 

Domestic investment (15 billion won) seems to be small in comparison to the global amount invested. MSD Korea is ranked no.1 in terms of R&D investment size in the MSD Asia-Pacific region.

 

Our number of new clinical trials approved in Korea over the past four years was at a leading level among multinational companies, and the amount invested in R&D last year increased by 66% compared to the previous year.

 

Quality data and infrastructure are key considerations used for making investment decisions in rclinical research.

 

Korea owns excellent resources in this regard.

 

We are continuously looking for institutions to collaborate with in Korea, and plan to further expand our collaboration in the future.

 

In particular, an unprecedented number of clinical trials are underway in the field of oncology.

 

There are 1,400 clinical trials in the world related to Keytruda, of which more than 900 are combination therapy studies.

 

-What other products do MSD Korea plan to introduce in Korea? I cannot share specificities regarding releases of drugs before their approval, but we are preparing to introduce a chronic cough treatment, HIV treatment, antibiotic, and pneumococcal vaccine among others.

 

Also, a Phase III trial is ongoing for our oral antiviral ‘molnupiravir’ that is expected to contribute to bringing an end to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Also in the mid-to-long term, we own an extensive portfolio ranging from PARP inhibitors, VEGF TKIs, HER2 TKIs, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), to antibiotics.