As inflation rises, so does the price of medicine. With more diseases showing up, affordable healthcare is needed now more than ever. This is what STADA, formerly an acronym for the Standardarzneimittel Deutscher Apotheker (Standard Drugs of German Pharmacists), stands for.
For the past twenty-eight years, STADA Philippines has been providing quality yet affordable healthcare to the country through their products. Although STADA is widely known as a generics company, they will soon penetrate the consumer market.
“STADA wants to be holistic in terms of its offering to the customer,” said general
manager Sharmaine Abarientos, “But now we are venturing into getting into consumer. So that is one of the strategic priorities globally and locally in business.”
Early last 2019, STADA Germany acquired the consumer brand Thorton and Ross, which produces pharmaceuticals. They also acquired Glaxosmithkline’s consumer brands middle of the same year. According to Ms. Abarientos, this “started the shift into not just being a generic company but really venturing into the consumer business.”
However, this is new territory for STADA. To make sure that they not only penetrate, but thrive in the market, they needed to revamp the whole organization.
“One of the challenges was transforming not just the business but also the organization. And having the people align to that and convince them that this will be good for the company.” she stated. To start, she looked into both the strengths and opportunities STADA had. She saw that “no one really has the knowledge and the skills” to get into the consumer market, so she prioritized building a team that can help them get into the market.
“I started building the leadership team to help me carry on the vision we have for STADA” she said, “Very critical is that you are supported by your leadership team in putting that vision into realization. So I hand picked the leadership team. I really have to hand pick people with that specific expertise that will help me and fit in the culture you really want to build.”
After assembling the team, Ms. Abarientos then started focusing on “open communication and prioritizing structure within the organization.” This is in line with her objective to grow both the people, and the company.
“I really want to take STADA Philippines to greater heights. I want STADA Philippines to be a major player not just in the prescription or pharmaceutical market, but also in the consumer segment.” she said, “I want it to be recognized as a trusted company not just by our external customers but also of our own team, or our own employees.”
STADA opened over 120 years ago in Dresden, Germany by a group of pharmacists. With its high production volume, STADA was able to establish itself in the European market for its quality yet affordable products. Today, they sell many over-the-counter products and specialty pharmaceuticals in 30 countries worldwide.