Looking Back, Looking Forward: Reflections on Lundbeck's Reputation

Like many of us, as a young person coming out of school, I wanted to build a career in a way where I could provide for myself and my future family while still making a positive impact on the world around me. Looking at the pharmaceutical industry, I saw companies that were researching and developing medicines that improved – and often saved – people’s lives, and a personal opportunity to help get those medications to people who need them. While our industry has evolved over time, 24 years later, I feel the same way I did when I started: Proud of what we do and our contributions to society.

At Lundbeck – and at many other pharmaceutical companies – we take our responsibilities seriously and try hard to act in accordance with the high stakes of our work. People suffering from psychiatric and neurological disorders are often dealing with hugely debilitating symptoms, and above all else, our job is to help improve their lives. Our success starts and finishes on that measure and our efforts are fully aligned to that objective.

That’s why I was so honored when we recently learned that patient groups in the U.S., as surveyed by the research and consulting organization PatientView, not only ranked Lundbeck first in overall corporate reputation among 28 leading U.S. pharmaceutical companies, but ranked us first in all six individual categories (patient-centricity, information, patient safety, usefulness of products, transparency, and integrity). Their report even states that Lundbeck U.S. received some of the highest scores in the survey’s history.

Reading that has never made me more proud of who we are and what we do.

Every year, the global pharmaceutical industry achieves amazing advancements for people suffering from diseases of all stripes. From the individuals I’ve worked with and met over two decades, I know the vast majority of people in our business are motivated by our chance to make a difference in human health and to touch and improve lives.

While I would love to see Lundbeck sit on the top perch of the PatientView rankings year after year – and I know we will work doggedly to hold our place – I also hope that across the pharmaceutical sector, we will continue to raise the bar for each other, and share lessons along the way, as we all work to bring our industry reputation in line with the pride we take in our work. It is certainly important.