Anton Gonak started to work for Norameda 14 years ago. According to the young professional, it was a “one-man show” at the time. Today A. Gonak is in charge of the whole division, working in the pharmaceutical market of Oncology, Haematology, and Transplantology.
“Introduction of the new products into the market, sales and marketing – our daily routine, as well as working on different projects,” says A.Gonak. “We aim to deliver the best solutions that our health care professionals and patients need.”
Going all the extra miles
Talking about the division he created from scratch, A. Gonak stresses the importance of the clients’ needs: the patients must get the medicine they demand. And there should be no compromises.
“There were some challenges during the COVID pandemic: in some cases cancer patients had difficulties accessing treatment as they were not able to travel due to the risk of contamination,” says A. Gonak.
Getting the proper treatment also means that team working on your case has access to the latest discoveries.
According to A. Gonak, getting acquainted with the most innovative ways of treating cancer or the most advanced ways to operate on transplantology patients are essential to medical professionals.
Saving lives matters more
“Direct sale – far from our main goals. Instead, we aim to be as creative as possible to get our patients proper, innovative, world-class treatment and deliver effective and affordable medicine,” says A. Gonak.
Usually, soft projects with patients and doctors start in Lithuania. Then, after testing the efficiency, they are passed to other units of Norameda in different countries.
A. Gonak identifies getting the products on the list of the reimbursed medicines as a significant part of his division’s work. It involves lobbying with different patient associations, universities, clinics and professionals.
“We work very close to doctor and patient. Also, we analyse the European market trends,” says The Head of Norameda Onko & Hospital Unit.
And though the situation in Lithuania is getting better, the list of reimbursed medicines is shorter than in some EU countries. The same problem is with a compensation mechanism for different treatment schemes. So it is still a lot of work for us.”
Challenges that excites
Fragile supply chains, new generics, and a decline in the market uptake of new medicines caused by COVID are only a few challenges for this year despite the war in Ukraine affecting global markets.
Still, every new challenge drives and inspires A. Gonak. The driving force is new projects, different targets, and looking for creative ways to crack problems.
“Recently, an HR professional came to our company. She was surprised that after 14 years with the company, I’m still full of ideas and inspiration. But this is how it is working in the field of saving lives,” shrugs A. Gonak.