The Executive Lounge

Featuring 

Jim Weiss
Founder, Chairman & CEO, Real Chemistry

Hosted by

Michael Seidler

Founder & CEO, Madison Alley Global Ventures

August 3, 2022 @ 1-2pm ET

EXECUTIVE HIGHLIGHTS

Overview of Jim Weiss

• Founder, Chairman & CEO, Real Chemistry
• Executive Advisor, New Mountain Capital
• Senior Director of Corporate Communications, Heartport
• Director of Global Product Communications, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer
• Senior Manager of Communications and Public Relations, Genentech

Overview of Real Chemistry:

• Global health innovation company committed to making the world a healthier place for all
• Formerly W20 Group
• Approaching $600 million in revenue
• 2,000+ experts across technology, communications, life sciences
• 20 years of double-digit growth
• Awarded #1 Large Health Network of the year in 2021 (MM+M)

-Interview-

Who is Jim Weiss?

Jim Weiss, Chairman & CEO of Real Chemistry did not begin his career as the leader of a global health innovation company. “I started from the bottom,” said Weiss, sharing some of his less-than-glamorous jobs: delivering papers in the rain, bussing tables, shoveling horse manure and many more. Now considered one of the most influential and multifaceted leaders in healthcare, Weiss is a biopharma and medical tech visionary, entrepreneur, business leader, investor, citizen advocate and digital health pioneer.

His most fun job? “This one! Mentoring and coaching young leaders, working with my clients — I’m having a really good time.”

Overview of Real Chemistry

Formerly known as W2O Group, Real Chemistry is a global health innovation company committed to making the world a healthier place for all. “We basically combine AI, ideas and people, whereby we employ data, digital and analytics to help drug and healthcare-focused companies to more precisely, rapidly, creatively and successfully commercialize their products.” Now approaching $600 million in revenue, the San Francisco-based company works with a variety of clinical, commercial and corporate clients in the biopharma and healthcare spaces.

Real Chemistry Services and Distinction

Real Chemistry strives to impact healthcare and patient health by providing services in three key areas:

1. Data & AI Solutions; Using proprietary data and technology to know patients and HCPs on a deeper human level. This allows a better understanding of their mindset, interests and how to reach them.
2. Commercialization; Applying insight, creativity, design and partnerships to humanize the journey, from diagnosis through adherence.
3. Integrated Marketing Communications; Enabling healthcare companies to develop a connection with the public, from policy to reputation, fostering equity, transparency and relevance.

Recent acquisitions and newly launched capabilities have deepened Real Chemistry’s expertise across health technology and commercial, powered by their hub of high-value influencer marketing.

Strategic M&A

After its investment from New Mountain Capital, Real Chemistry acquired three companies in quick succession, tripling the size of each of those businesses.

When it comes to mergers and acquisitions, Weiss says, “Don’t buy anything you have to fix too much. Buy stuff that’s working and figure out how it fits.”Real Chemistry experiences double-digit growth every year. “It took us 15 years to reach $100 million dollars,” said Weiss. “Then, in five years, we went from $100 million to $600 million.”

Listening to what clients need has guided Real Chemistry in growing the business in way that will have the biggest impact. This insight led the company to add names such as Pure Communications, Marketeching Solutions, Radius Digital Science and IPM.ai.

Data Applications In Health Care

Real Chemistry covers a vast array of areas in the healthcare field, which break down into four main spheres:

1. Corporate Solutions
   1. Corporate Communications
   2. Multi-Stakeholder Engagement
   3. Issues + Crisis Management
2. Commercial
   1. Medical Affairs
   2. Patient Services
   3. Market Access
   4. Marketing + Sales
3. Commercial/Agency
   1. Audience Analytics + Engagement
   2. Patient Segmentation
4. Clinical
   1. Patient Identification
   2. Clinical Trial Recruitment

Innovation  

Sebastian Jesperson, CEO of Vertic, joined the conversation to speak with Jim Weiss about his vision for the future of healthcare. Vertic is an independent global digital agency recognized by Gartner® in the Market Guide for Global Digital Marketing Agencies, helping F500 companies with their digital transformation journey across key verticals such as technology, industrial and healthcare.

Sebastian remarked how some would say the industry is broken – with wonderful drugs coming out of pharma companies on one side, but a big price tag for consumers on the other. He asked Jim, “What needs to be disrupted?”

“We can’t have enough expertise and good ideas,” Weiss says. When Real Chemistry sets out to launch a product, it asks, “Are there new technologies, applications or data to explore?”

“We want to put the power in the hands of the patient or consumer, so those are the kinds of things we are looking for and exploring. There are so many opportunities to innovate.”

And although technology is a key player in the future of the industry, Weiss believes it’s not the solution. “Tech is an enabler,” he said, “but it won’t fix healthcare.”

In the age of telehealth, Real Chemistry looks at ways to improve the patient experience and doctor-patient relationships. One of the other major needs is to educate many of the government-run organizations about what’s good and what is not so good. They are the ones making decisions, so they need to be educated by the experts in the field who can communicate the science accurately.

Q&A

Q: How have challenges around access to user data most notably affected health care marketers?

A: “That is a challenge that affects us every day. In such a regulated industry, you have to find ways to work around those, but we operate within the parameters we have, like privacy laws and other rules under HIPAA. We can still do a lot — we work in partnership with our clients to figure it out.”

Q: How will this data disruption impact the way health systems and providers market to current and prospective patients?

 A: “I think that’s an untapped growth area. We’ve only just begun the power of leveraging data. That’s the biggest upside area, as long as it can be done at a reasonable margin.”

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