The upcoming Health Revolution Congress on May 17th is the largest European Summit in Digital Health, where global startups & stakeholders join forces in Barcelona. The event, powered by Barcelona Health Hub, provides you inside knowledge of cutting-edge technologies, new tendencies, and future solutions. Let’s explore today’s digital health solutions for tomorrow’s health!
One of the companies you can meet at the Health Revolution Congress is BHH member Angelini Pharma. It’s the pharmaceutical division of Angelini Industries, which has a history dating back to 1919 with the establishment of a small pharmaceutical laboratory in the city of Ancona, Italy. After more than 100 years of operation, the company has expanded its presence in the pharmaceutical market to become an international leader in healthcare. With a team of nearly 3,000 people, Angelini Pharma is recognized for its expertise in areas such as Brain Health, Pain and Inflammation, and Ophthalmology, among other specialties. The company also has a long-standing track record in Consumer Health, where it has several successful brands aimed at promoting responsible self-care.
Today we meet with Gemma Malla Head of Digital of Angelini Pharma Iberia, who will share with us more about their expectations for the Health Revolution Congress.
Gemma, we’re looking forward to seeing you at the Health Revolution Congress. Can you please introduce yourself and tell us about Angelini Pharma?
I am a former strategic consultant from Deloitte Digital where I advised companies from different sectors such as banking, fast consumer goods, retail and above all, pharma companies in their digital strategy and its implementation. I am an strategic thinker and energetic storyteller, with academic background at ESADE, where I still teach and the City University of Hong Kong.
In 2020, I joined Angelini Pharma, an international company with more than 100 years of history and 3.000 employees, with strong focus on Brain Health, especially in mental health and epilepsy, to lead the company’s digital transformation in Spain and Portugal as Iberia Digital Head. In Angelini Pharma we are continuously pursuing how digital can help us innovate and take people’s health one step further and we make it happen with dynamism and agility.
Can you elaborate about what’s new at Angelini Pharma these days?
We are pursuing our vision to become a European leader in brain health, in Europe, each year, 6% of deaths are associated with neurological diseases and 4% with mental and behavioral disorders. We were seeing in one of our latest reports (HeadWay) that mental health problems, especially mild to moderate ones, affect 70% of the working population at some point in their lives. And we are constantly working to see how we can leverage digital services and technologies to address brain health issues.
Also this year we have launched a new product in epilepsy, a common neurological disease that affects more than 50 million people in the world, of which 400,000 are in Spain. This reality makes the pathology one of the most frequent chronic neurological diseases. And in this launch we have used technologies that were not available 10 years ago, to boost it, using the power of AI, VR, AR or Bluetooth, or social media technologies to be able to share science and awareness in an innovative way.
Barcelona Health Hub is thrilled to have you at this largest European congress in digital health. Could you share why you decided to join the Health Revolution Congress?
In Angelini Pharma, we believe we need to innovate continuously to take people’s health one step further and in this sense we believe pharma is living a change of paradigm and we will see a continuous evolution of the digital business model in pharma. To face the innovation that is coming and to have real impact in peoples live we cannot do that alone, we need to do it with an ecosystem mindset, connecting to patient associations, healthcare professionals, startups, other pharma companies, tech companies, etc… and where can we do that better than in the Health Revolution Congress? Where most of these stakeholders will be taking part.
You’re also participating in the panel about “Leading Change in Pharma through Digital Health”. Can you tell us what would be your key message at the panel?
Linking it to last question one of the major elements of disruption we will see in the pharma sectors in the upcoming years is Digital Health. We see countries like UK or Germany really advance in that field, and in Catalonia where we have more than 2.000 start-ups, 20% of them in health, it’s a pity to see them having to leave to other countries because we are not advance enough in the regulation of DTx.
That is why in Angelini Pharma, following the sprit of cooperation in ecosystem we are part of the Dtx Consortium in which with other pharma (Pfizer, Boeringher Ingelheim, Ferrer, Chiesi), tech companies like Vodafone, business schools like IESE, between others with the aim of accelerating the process of regulation of digital therapies in Spain and thus facilitating their access to the market of medical devices, through reimbursement by the health system.
What are you excited about for the Health Revolution Congress?
As mentioned earlier the opportunity to connect with different stakeholders within the specially with companies referent in the technological sector (Huawei, Amazon, etc) and have the chance to speak about how we can innovate together.
And moreover, the opportunity to meet different companies and start-ups that are tackling into the two challenges we have launched along with ACCIÓ, Barcelona Health Hub and BioCat to see how they can help us advance in Epilepsy field and Brain Health Awareness.
Is there anything else you want to share with us?
Sure! At Angelini Pharma Spain we are very actives, so don’t miss the chance to check our latest news and activities at our website.
Don’t miss Angelini Pharma at the Health Revolution Congress on May 17th! Be sure to reserve your seat on time and meet with global startups & stakeholders in Barcelona.
Get your ticket HERE!