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Life science products sales and marketing pros get new industry association
The Association of Commercial Professionals – Life Sciences (ACP-LS) claims it is the first professional association for the nearly 60,000 people who work in commercial roles for life science products and services companies.
The aim is to provide a dynamic forum for the exchange of knowledge through ongoing education, information resources, opportunities for networking and professional development for life science commercial professionals.
President of the group is former Covance marketing head Chuck Drucker with Jack Ball of Tyball Associates, Tracy Tsuetaki of Optum, Walter Lentfert from Razor Profiles and Angelo Giordano making up the rest of the directorial board.
The inspiration to set up ACP-LS came from Drucker’s work with other professional bodies and the realisation that no such group existed for people in his industry.
Drucker said: “Most of the scientists we interact with in our jobs are part of professional associations. It’s about time there was one designed for our chosen profession – the life science commercial professional.”
This was echoed by Ball, who said: “When Chuck first approached me about the idea...I was surprised that there were no associations dedicated to life science commercial professionals.”
He added that: “When our market research study showed that almost 90 per cent of respondents would join such an organization and attend an annual meeting, I knew we had to create the ACP-LS.”
Education
The group marked its launch with a series of educational presentations that it claims go beyond the usual sales and marketing focused programmes and instead include specific information on the research, discovery, development and pharmaceutical manufacturing sectors.
Tracy Tsuetaki said: "The webinar series will provide a means of learning and sharing as well as an opportunity to collaborate with colleagues on professional development and key areas of interest.
