Executive Meeting with Dr. Antoni Esteve

The Spanish pharmaceutical sector deserves society's recognition

• The great potential of the pharmaceutical sector lies not only in the fact that it is a long-term industry, but also that it has the ability to drive emerging industries and startups. 
• "We are in the business of improving the quality of people's sleep so that they can get the most out of life; that will not only make us happier, but will help us build a much more sustainable society."
• While sleep is not directly responsible for the diseases people may suffer from, it is a crucially important factor, which is why it is essential to pay attention to it.

We present the third interview in the series of Executive Meetings 2023, in which Dr. Antoni Esteve, president of Esteve Teijin Healthcare and AdSalutem Institute for Healthy Sleep had an interesting conversation with the dean of the school, Dr. Casilda Güell.

Belonging to a family saga with seven generations dedicated to the pharmaceutical field since 1787, Dr. Esteve has shown his enormous vocation and pride in working in a key sector with an impact on more than 7 million people in Spain. A sector that invests all its efforts, he says, in researching, innovating and creating products and procedures that improve health, but a sector that also generates many jobs. The pharmaceutical sector is the third largest exporter in Spain and its products have a high added value with a direct influence on society. But it also generates a large productive capacity in its environment and produces a lot of indirect employment. Antoni Esteve believes that this is a sector with strategic thinking that looks to the long term and has the capacity to promote emerging industries and start-ups, given that it connects very well the world of the university with that of business.

Esteve is a very rigorous company in terms of good corporate governance regulations, in the words of its president, not only because it is obliged to do so, but also because of a great commitment to all stakeholders. "We must be sensitive to the fact that we are not alone; a product is only as successful as the recognition of those who, directly or indirectly, participate in making it possible," he says.

Antoni Esteve believes that the pharmaceutical sector is in good health, but that it is not fulfilling its potential. "It could be doing much better if it had the recognition it deserves from society, especially from the administrations when it comes to promoting it properly," he says. "We have a challenge ahead of us to achieve this recognition because we have a pharmaceutical industry that many countries would like to have.

Esteve Teijin Healthcare: The importance of patient empowermen

Dr. Antoni Esteve believes that the current provision of pharmaceutical services is not sufficient to address the future challenges of a maturing society. That is why Esteve Teijin Healthcare was launched in 2008, offering home respiratory therapies for patients with chronic diseases who do not require hospitalisation. "An ageing society needs increasingly comprehensive services, and this is jeopardising the sustainability of the system," he says. For this reason, he believes it is very important to empower patients so that, together with the efforts of pharmacological, care, hospital and home care, they are able to cope better with their illness. For this to be possible, it is essential to provide the necessary resources and, above all, to apply more preventive medicine.

"Taking care of our brains is vital to manage our lives properly and protect ourselves to face the challenges set"

40% of the world's population sleeps poorly. That is why Dr. Antoni Esteve considers the Sleep Institute the culmination of his professional career. "Although sleep is not directly responsible for the diseases that people suffer from, it is a crucial factor, which is why it is essential to pay attention to it," he says. Dr. Esteve considers sleep to be a masterpiece of nature created for our bodies to function properly. During the night, the brain is free of orders and can devote itself fully to taking care of our physical and mental health. The Sleep Institute works especially with two groups: young people at school, whose performance and sociability are affected by poor sleep, and companies, where Dr. Esteve believes that brain capacity should be taken care of. "Taking care of our brain is vital to manage life properly and protect ourselves to face the challenges we set ourselves," he concludes.