[메디게이트뉴스] At the beginning of the year, inquiries about advance into the non-clinical field from doctors contemplating careers are increasing. It may be almost impossible to obtain information when there are few doctors entering the industry, such as in the early 2000s, but nowadays, seniors who have already entered the industry give lectures and share information through online communities. If you decide to do it, you may be able to meet directly with people who have entered the industry with just one or two people.
However, even when information is acquired, there are still questions asked. “What kind of company should I go to? What should I prepare? What if I can’t go and get used to it? Or if you adjust well, what will your career be like?” I would like to give you a little help with this question.
Emphasizing the importance of R&D…Recruitment of domestic company doctors is clear compared to the previous year in 2020
According to the internal aggregate data of Medigate’s doctor career management service H-Link, the number of nonclinical doctor hiring orders in 2019 was about 70, but in 2020, it increased to 80 people per year. Of course, it’s not an industry-wide number, but it’s a rough look at the trend of hiring nonclinical doctors. The biggest change from 2019 to 2020 is that the number of doctors recruited by domestic companies such as pharmaceuticals, bio-venture companies, and venture capitals has increased compared to foreign companies, and the absolute number has also increased.
Pharmaceutical companies are the most hiring in domestic companies. In general, they do a job called Clinical Science Development. It is no exaggeration to say that this is an area of work that began when the former vice president of Hanmi Pharm (internal medicine specialist) Sohn Ji-woong, who is currently in charge of the pharmaceutical business at LG Chem, succeeded in licensing out of Hanmi Pharmaceutical. After introducing and developing a product, it sells it to multinational pharmaceutical companies at a certain stage.
What doctors do here is make a decision on’GO or NO GO’. The final decision is made on whether to buy the product or develop the product under development in the lab, where to sell it, and when to sell it. In the process, it is more likely that the place where the product is purchased and the place where clinical trials are conducted are in foreign countries than in Korea. It is natural to deal with people in foreign countries rather than meeting people in Korea. As a result, it is a misconception that if you go to a domestic company, you will not be able to use a foreign language. Kim Seok-ran, former director of Hanmi Pharmaceutical, said in a 2018 webinar, “I felt a language barrier that foreign companies did not feel while working at Hanmi Pharmaceutical.”
In Korea, researchers who work in teams are unlikely to be made up of only those who studied only in Korea. Ph.D. with degrees abroad, or those with a doctor’s license abroad, work together. Doctors entering a domestic company are likely to move with researchers as members of the organization at the same time. This is different from the fact that foreign companies mostly move to individual contributors at the beginning of their employment. Of course, there is a possibility that the followers of domestic companies are better than those of foreign companies. Even so, it is by no means easy to have people under you who have worked in a company for years or even 10 years or more after your degree.
In the interview process just before you move, you may not notice a significant cultural difference from the hospital. Interviews with domestic companies are rare, explaining where people are needed for this position, what the company will verify, and where such candidates are needed for the position. Probably there is an acquaintance inside, or even the acquaintance is likely to be difficult to hear without an interviewer.
This is due to the decision-making process for recruiting human resources from domestic companies. About once a year, we decide on recruitment, and during this process,’We need people. This organizational need is shared and the need is determined by the HR team in the form of’how many people are needed’. The same goes for the need for a doctor. Since research and development to production and sales are all done in Korea, all processes are carried out at the head office in Korea.
Yuhan Corporation, which is developing the new lung cancer drug’Lasertinib’, has two doctors working inside (excluding consulting companies), and Hanmi Pharmaceutical, which successfully exported copyright to MSD this year, has three doctors working. Compared to the current tasks that the company has to do, the number of doctors is in short supply.
To make matters worse, through the Corona 19 pandemic, the company’s research performance is in direct proportion to the company’s value. Even before Corona 19, companies that were negative in R&D because of costly too much are now compelled to claim R&D companies. In addition, as the net profit margins of domestic companies, which were not able to do many sales activities last year, are improving, investment in R&D is inevitable.
Bio-ventures, VCs, CROs… increasing demand for new doctors
Bio-venture and venture capital (VC) are the places where the number of doctor recruitment movements has increased. Domestic bio-ventures receive investments from domestic pharmaceutical companies and conduct joint research. VC has also increased since it has become a VC-driven investment rather than a government-led investment, and it is also actively recruiting investment review roles in the bio sector. VCs with doctors and VCs without doctors are not only evaluated by Limited Partners (Limited Partners) but also by the industry as a whole, so the demand for doctors is also increasing.
As a result, the recruitment patterns of VCs that were previously recruited mainly for’knowledgers’ have also changed a lot. By hiring doctors on their own and going through trial and error, they are recruiting personnel by creating an evaluation test process that suits each person. For example, usually give a specific topic and ask,’Would you like to invest in this company? If so, why would you do it?’
Also, indispensable areas of work are CRO and consulting. As the new drug development field of domestic pharmaceutical companies has become more active, it has become important enough to say that’the company that has truly benefited is the CRO’. It is a structure in which domestic pharmaceutical companies become customers, and in planning and operating clinical trials,’consulting’ is required, unlike generic drugs before. Because of this, they are actively recruiting doctors with excellent experience from many years ago. It became an issue once more when Hyunhee Na (internal medicine specialist), who had experience in Yuhan Corporation and a multinational pharmaceutical company, moved to LSK Global in 2019. The CRO is a great environment to gain experience in understanding and operating clinical trials.
If you want to challenge a domestic company, consider the following points and decide whether you are suitable for a domestic company. If you are positive at least 3 of the 5 items, you will be positive about working at a domestic company.
1. Problem solving: Rather than meeting people and solving them through conversation, I tend to look at literature or search for materials on my own to find solutions.
2. Need for recognition: I am more comfortable with being evaluated within the organization and being evaluated in the long term rather than immediately evaluating myself.
3. Work area: It is inconvenient to have a clearly defined work area. I have a goal and the process of making it is fun
4. Sales propensity: Informing customers of the excellence of their products and feeling uncomfortable about connecting them to sales
5. Others: You can have academic conversations in foreign languages. There is no reluctance to work at the company. It is not difficult to adapt to the vertical relationship between the supervisor and subordinates.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the demand for doctors working in domestic companies is increasing explosively. However, if there is a dilemma, the demand for hiring doctors is increasing, but there is a high possibility that it is not clearly defined which doctors are suitable for each company. This is also an unavoidable situation. If someone previously worked, you can create a standard. However, most of the positions that recruit doctors of domestic companies are new positions. It would be weird if you could clearly define what you want in the spot.
In fact, from the standpoint of job seekers, their value increases a lot only when the balance of supply and demand is broken. Supply should be low and demand should be high. Now, the demand for doctors in domestic companies has definitely increased. However, there is inevitably’ambiguity’ in the current market. If the organization is growing and doctors jump into it, the work to be done will inevitably expand. It is not a bad time for doctors who want to work with this situation as an opportunity to knock on the door of domestic pharmaceutical companies, bio-ventures, VCs, and CROs.
※The column is the columnist’s personal opinion and may not match the editorial direction of this magazine.