- 3 years ago
17 January 2024
Few leaders get the opportunity to build a ‘dream team’ from scratch and then watch them perform, but having now achieved this, Moderna Australia and New Zealand General Manager Michael Azrak is thrilled with the outcome.
“I’m super proud of the team we’ve put together,” he told MedNews. “I think I’m one of the luckiest leaders in the pharmaceutical industry. Rarely do you get a white piece of paper to design an organisation and recruit people from scratch. Maybe BeiGene is another example, and Daiichi Sankyo which is starting now, but there are very few opportunities. I’m so fortunate with the team that I have.”
Now in his third year as the ANZ head of Moderna, Azrak has recently been acting as GM for Moderna Japan while continuing with his local responsibilities and says his all-star team made it possible for him to do both jobs at the same time.
“There’s no way I could be doing the Japan interim role if I didn’t have the leadership team that I’ve got in place here in Australia,” he said. “They’re all amazing people, totally committed to Moderna’s mission to deliver the greatest impact to people and patients everywhere through mRNA medicines.”
Having interviewed Michael three times in 18 months, he has consistently stressed the importance of mindset in building his Moderna team. He has had the benefit of an exuberance of choice in candidates as many of industry’s top talent has been keen to board the mRNA juggernaut, but Azrak says the Moderna recruitment process specifically looks for people who fit the Moderna mindsets.
He proudly recites these mindsets at any opportunity: “pushing past possible, questioning convention, behaving like owners… I could go on,” he exclaims. Corporate mantras rarely translate well outside office walls, but it is clear for this leader, mindset is truly everything.
“I think it’s what’s enabled us to deliver what we have in a relatively short period of time,” he says.
There is no doubt Moderna is a very attractive proposition to those lucky enough to get a job at the company, not least its impressive office premises at the prestigious end of Melbourne’s Collins Street.
Sitting proudly beside Gucci’s handbags and Paspaley’s pearls, Azrak says the premises at 101 Collins Street was one of the perks that emerged from the pandemic as an abundance of office space meant good leasing deals could be struck.
“Melbourne CBD’s got a great vibe about it,” he says of the new digs. “There are amenities nearby and that’s what key talent is looking for. They want to be able to come to come to a place where they can collaborate, somewhere that they can get to sustainably.
“For us, it was also being close to Clayton. We are a stone’s throw away from one of the greatest R&D precincts in the world, the Parkville precinct, and also Monash (where the Moderna mRNA manufacturing facility is located). I think this is the office that comes out of a post-pandemic world.”
When we spoke in early 2022, Azrak had only a handful of employees in Australia and said he wanted to build a nimble team of around 40 people. That has now stretched to around 55 but with the head office team now in place, he is turning his attention to recruiting the 50 people needed to run the manufacturing site, with Emma Harrington arriving from the US to lead that team.
Azrak describes Moderna as “an mRNA platform company”, saying it is using the RNA technology as a platform to deliver multiple products from the same class but with different therapeutic targets rather than adopting the traditional pharma model of developing a suite of products in different classes.
The company plans to launch 15 new products between now and 2029, its RSV vaccine being the next cab off the rank. It was accepted for TGA evaluation under priority review early last year, meaning a decision is due shortly, and it will be among the first mRNA vaccines produced in Australia next year along with an influenza vaccine and a Covid/flu combination still in development as part of the company’s respiratory portfolio.
Moderna has also finished recruiting for a Phase 3 CMV trial, has rare disease candidates for metabolic disorders in its pipeline, and is developing a much-hyped neoadjuvant personalised cancer therapy with Azrak’s former employer, MSD.
One of the immediate challenges his team is tackling is the regulatory framework. Each mRNA candidate requires a separate regulatory submission despite use of the mRNA platform meaning a full evaluation of each product is arguably overkill, unnecessarily slowing patient access.
“At the end of the day, our vision in Australia is accelerating mRNA medicines to patients,” says Azrak. “I think everybody’s mantra is getting things to patients as quickly as possible, because they make a meaningful difference to improving healthcare.
“…I think we are at this nexus. Science is moving at the most rapid pace we’ve ever seen, especially when it comes to the focus, targeting and personalisation of medicines moving forward. Now whether you are looking at mRNA, at CRISPR gene editing that’s to come, [or if] you are looking in the review mirror at CAR T, there’s still more to come.
“To bring those forward as quickly as possible, there’s a a lot of education that needs to take place. There is that mindset shift, and I think it’s also a case of looking outside as well as looking inside.
“How are others dealing with these incredible advancements of science and technology all coming to together? There’s a piece for the regulators, there’s a piece for the payers, the patients, the infrastructure, and let’s not forget the healthcare professionals that also have to deal with amazing, data downloads from all of these medications.”
As the former ANZ head of MSD, Azrak recalls how in 2018, he said one day MSD’s Keytruda would have 30 approved indications. It now has 39 approved in the US and 29 in Australia – evidence Azrak says of the pace of drug development and innovation, and why 15 mRNA launches in five years is highly plausible.
“I’m amazed to think what it will be in 10 years or 15 years as the science around mRNA and gene editing comes to bear,” he says. “Having a collaborative approach is the only way we are going to be successful, along with keeping patients front and centre and recognising the challenges the entire ecosystem has.”
Azrak believes there is “a great opportunity for Australia to lead in mRNA” given not only is Moderna manufacturing onshore but also BioNTech and Sanofi investing in the technology locally. The Federal Government has formerly leaned heavily on CSL for its pandemic fallback strategy, but local mRNA presents a faster, more flexible option for the country and the region.
When asked what he wants to achieve this year, Azrak says the RSV launch is a key priority along with recruiting for the manufacturing facility, getting it operational, and continuing to build-out the local R&D ecosystem. They are big asks but it’s clear Azrak believes he has the team in place to kicks big goals – and he plans to be here to lead them.
“I’m just getting started,” he says. “I’ve got plenty to do here. The last two years have just gone incredibly fast. We joke that a year at Moderna is equivalent to three to four anywhere else, and with 15 launches over the next five years, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
©MedNews 2024