(upbeat music)
-: Before the COVID pandemic,
we would make about 8 million tests a year, mostly for flu.
In a really, really bad flu season
we'd make 10 million tests a year.
And we're now making 10 million tests a month,
six months after launch.
And so, and the assay was developed
in basically three or four months.
So as we step back and we've kind of looked
at what did we do differently to make that happen,
it normally takes three years to get an assay
out by the way,
and these are not made by hand.
These are made by fully automated lines, where to make-
bring this thing to life, we are cutting steel,
programming robots, bringing up visual inspection systems,
getting antibodies made in animals,
and all in that same timeframe to scale and launch.
And so, for us, I think the first thing was
we made the mandate extremely clear, right?
We need to get a COVID 19 test out that has
this specific performance criteria by this date.
And it's not a BD life science initiative.
This is a BD companywide initiative.
And every ounce of resource that we have
as a company is available to this team.
That's different than large companies normally run, right?
That was the first thing we did was
make the mandate very clear
and that was very enabling to the team.
And the second thing we did was we went
and we took--recognizing we were going to try to
do something unprecedented--is we very early on,
in the first few days, looked and said,
"Where is the best talent in the company
to make this thing happen?"
And so we went and we hand picked, this is again
a life science segment project,
we went in our pharmaceutical business and said
"Here's the best GM that's the best operator,
make him the program manager."
We took a president out of BD Interventional,
our implantable device business and said
"You don't know anything about this life science
but you're a heck of a commercial expert.
We need you to lead this workstream on this."
And we took talent from literally all different businesses
around the company and put them as the leads
on the project, as a team.
The third thing is we, right off the bat,
we started partnering differently than we had before.
The key thing to getting a test out is getting
the antibody that gives you the right performance.
And so we were working with DARPA, with the universities
around the world, with different companies
who had antibodies, just in the hunt
and also who could scale production?
Because the other thing was we had our own
installed production but very immediately we said
"We want to go well beyond our capacity."
And so we started identifying external
manufacturing partners, which have been key
to our scale up today, but we did that very, very early on.
And then I think the fourth thing, which was, in retrospect,
perhaps the most important, was how we empowered the team
and how we took risk and concern off of their plates.
And what I mean by that was at the end
of every day of the project, myself, several members
of my executive team were on the call with the project team
and we would make early-on capital decisions on the spot.
We need to spend $5 million
in capital approved right now, go forward.
By the way, if something doesn't work, we are taking-
I personally, Tom, taking accountability for that.
You have nothing to worry about.
So, a good example would be I remember early on,
there was a very promising antibody, ended up being one of
the antibodies that is in our current test.
Natural thing would be procurement.
OK. We're ordered the pilot size batch for $200,000.
OK.
How long will it take to get the commercial size batch,
if that works?
Another three weeks,
go ahead and order the commercial size batch
A million dollars? What if it doesn't work?
Don't worry about it. Order the commercial size batch.
It's worth it. We're on a race here to get this to market.
And the feedback from the team
and the debrief on what that enabled them to do,
when they said, "We have reagents that we found
in North Carolina at a company," and we said
"We're setting the BD plane and a BD Associate's going to
pick them up."
And we saved two days in getting them
to San Diego where the R&D was happening.
What that inspired in the team to know
that the entire power of the company was behind them,
the leadership team was behind them,
and that again, this was truly a BD-wide initiative,
that was, to them at the end of the day, what made them-
they were going 24/7 around the clock.
But to know that they--people had their backs,
they had every resource they could get, that ended up being
a tremendous part of the success equation.
And I think it's a lesson of, that's really how,
when there's an opportunity to innovate,
you can often talk about big companies being
at a disadvantage of small companies in terms of speed.
It's ultimately that empowerment
and taking risk off the table
and making it that companywide initiative,
where big companies can have advantages.
(upbeat music)
-: I think the industry is at its best
when it's purpose-driven with a singular focus.
And we have to recognize that
although we compete on many occasions
there are times when the competition is bigger
than any individual company.
And so I think that's why we were able to
come together with GSK so fast.
That's why there was tremendous collaboration
between all the vaccine manufacturers trying to share data,
trying to share advice, trying to make sure,
through Warp Speed and other bodies, that we were doing
whatever we could to enable others to move quickly.
So many times that it was a race against the virus
not a race against each other.
I think we have to be realistic
on the collaboration front that there's still
some competition and we still, you know, run companies
but I hope there are unmet needs where we all decide
to try and adopt, like I touched on earlier,
some way forward that allows everybody to share,
to feed off each other, and to do something incredible.
And maybe, just maybe, some of the regulators
will also learn, or the governments, and say,
"Well if we all pitch in with the similar philosophy,
can we do something about colorectal cancer,
or can we do something for children dying
of neglected diseases?
What can we do together?"
And I think that would be a tremendous outcome,
if we take that.
I know we would step in,
I'm sure pretty much everybody else would.
You said up front Barry you know we--
the industry's reputation, I think changed positively
during the pandemic, but we're not there yet.
You know, my own family's saying to me
"When will there be a vaccine?" followed by
"When will it be a safe vaccine?" followed by
"Will it be a safe and effective vaccine?"
Where will it be?
What temperature will it be?
Even my mother became somewhat of an expert
in the temperature differences between vaccines.
Everybody was interested and as the public got more informed
we hope subsequently their attitude to population health,
perhaps getting a flu shot annually will avoid tragedy
because over half a million people
die of influenza every year.
So look, there's a lot in there. We'll see.
But I think sentiment is strong to maintain that
productivity and we hope to play our part.
(upbeat music)
-: As people are pushing the boundaries of ways
that technology can bring new innovations to market,
which helps push the industry forward overall,
it's a very healthy dynamic, I think, that's going on there.
And for us, I would just step back, one moment,
I'll get back to innovation,
but we think of Big Tech not only for--
on the innovation side but also to transform our businesses.
There's some really great--overall, I think our industry
is quite far behind when it comes to
go-to-market strategies from a digital perspective
that there's a lot of learnings to be had
from tech there, even as we think--
we pride ourself in being a very--
two-thirds of our associates are in manufacturing.
But even we do a lot of partnering with Big Tech
in applying AI to how we manage our inventories now.
We're applying FinTech to how we're doing
our accounts payable.
So there's a lot of lessons to be had and
great partnerships on just the performance side
of the company.
But, more on the topic that we're talking about here,
innovation...
someone would be crazy not to look at how you would
tap into the great capabilities in AI,
particularly in big data.
There's varying levels on robotics and automation.
There's many other companies other
than Big Tech who have those as well, but
in the right spaces, I have seen in a number of companies
maybe jump in a too early in an eagerness to
have a partnership without necessarily thinking it through.
So it's important to think through
what is each organization really bringing
that's a competitive advantage for them.
One of our partnerships, we announced last year
which was with Microsoft, and they advertised very proudly
on their their homepage,
where we partnered to take all the data.
We're pretty unique in that we're connected to 70%
of all U.S. hospital electronic medical records, right?
The BD data and connectivity engine is in 70% of
of US acute care hospitals.
There's not many companies with greater penetration of that.
So we've got amazing data.
We ended up partnering with Microsoft to utilize some
of their most cutting-edge AI technology to start looking
at all the data coming from our systems.
-: If you asked anybody in our industry over the last 10,
20 years, even today, "Are we an innovative industry?"
The answer will be a resounding yes, every which way.
But if you actually probe further,
often that's work in the lab, at the bench,
by a small number of large companies.
And you know, I think the industry's been through a wave
of big signature collaborations or
you know, partnerships that have made everybody feel
like comforted that we're collaborating.
But if you asked anybody in the company, "How has it-
how have things changed?"
They would say, "Well, they haven't really, we're waiting
for the outcome of that project
with that big data provider."
And I think we just have to be honest with ourselves.
Nothing's right, but nothing's wrong.
I think we are delighted--
I'm a little bit with Tom--
Big Tech coming in is only for good because
if it means a patient gets a better outcome,
wears an app, has their blood ox actively managed,
it's all good because if they're doing things
where there's gaps, then it's better for everybody.
I think the challenge for pharma in general is
the tech side has been applied on top of, or
in very particular instances.
And for Big Pharma, I don't know many great examples
of companies that have completely reinvented themselves
bottom-up, as data and digitally led.
And I think we have to just be brutally honest and say
"That's a hell of a journey."
You know, I interviewed somebody today
for a very specific technical function
who showed up as strong on digital and data
as he did on the function that was not related.
And I think what it showed me was that I've set a new bar
for people particularly in senior positions that
they need to not only be able to do their job correctly,
create inclusive environments, innovative environments,
but they need to have the curiosity
and the self-starting mindset to have equipped themselves
to understand where they'll be disrupted,
their role that they're taking on,
and what they will do from a digital and data perspective
to create a vision for their people.
It's not going to to be just left in the CDO office.
I think the expectation of new leaders, particularly now, is
that everybody is digitally competent minimum, and that-
but you can be sophisticated enough to express a future,
one that is AI or automation, whatever driven.
I think, secondly, we prove we can operate remotely.
Can we innovate and collaborate remotely?
We're going to find out, as the longer this goes on,
but I also am very excited about what it means
for the future of work.
Doesn't keep me awake, but I need to create an environment
where people can be at the best version of themselves
and pulse that, dip in and out, and still retain
the mental health from the collaboration, the connection,
the spontaneity.
(upbeat music)
-: For us at BD, the first thing was
being able to get those issues on the table
and have open, frank discussions.
And I think that's true of probably every company
in our industry, right?
Is these are issues that weren't
being talked about openly. They were uncomfortable issues,
and it takes leadership engagement to say,
"It's okay to talk about these issues in the workplace."
We don't have the answers to these issues
but we're going to talk about them
and we're going to take a position on them when it matters,
because it matters.
-: First of all, I think we're fooling ourselves,
if we think it's acceptable to run companies
that aren't representative of society.
Now, it takes a bit of effort and energy
but it's overdue and we can't fool ourselves any longer,
so let's just put that out there.