Sylvain Vigneault – Country Manager, Viatris Australia
Background
Sylvain Vigneault is the Country Manager for Viatris Australia. Overseeing the strategic direction of the business, he is responsible for leading a team of almost 800 employees Australia wide and supporting them to supply patients with access to more than 1,000 medicines.
Throughout 2020-2021, Sylvain guided the business through the transition to Viatris, which was formed through the combination of Mylan and Upjohn, a legacy division of Pfizer at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to this appointment, Sylvain held the role of Country Manager for Australia and Head of Commercial for New Zealand at Mylan for almost six years, following Mylan’s acquisition of Abbott EPD in 2015. Sylvain came to Australia in 2012 and was appointed General Manager Australia & New Zealand for Abbott EPD, based in Sydney.
In 2010, Sylvain started in the role of Commercial Director, RICC (Russia, India, China & CIS), where he led the development of the long-term strategy for the Cardiovascular and Vaccine portfolio. Sylvain has also held positions as Solvay’s Senior Vice President Neuroscience within the Global Product Strategy Department in Hannover, Germany, and then subsequently in Basel Switzerland.
Sylvain’s career began in Canada, and he has held roles in Czech Republic, France, Germany, Switzerland and Singapore before coming to Australia. Sylvain has also held the role of Chair of the Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association from March 2018 to October 2020.
To provide insights into bringing employees and their partners along their sustainability journey, Tim Langdon, publisher of Eco Voice, had the pleasure of facilitating a Q & A with Sylvain Vigneault – Country Manager, Viatris Australia.
Q1. What does sustainability mean to Viatris Australia?
Sustainability at Viatris is about recognising that our actions affect the stakeholders and communities we serve. Everyone at Viatris contributes to the work we do to address key environmental, social and governance matters. As a healthcare company we see human health and environmental health as closely interconnected. Sustainability to Viatris Australia is focused on working collectively to produce high-quality, trusted medicines in a safe and responsible manner, doing our part to advance sustainable practices and minimise our environmental footprint.
Q2. Why is sustainability important?
Viatris served approximately 1 billion patients globally in 2022. So it is important that while meeting evolving healthcare needs, we seek to create long-lasting value for our key stakeholders – the people who trust our medicines every day, the health systems who rely on us, the people that make up Viatris, our partners and the investors who believe in our ability to execute on our mission. We do this by working to advance responsible and sustainable operations and leverage our collective expertise to empower people worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life.
Q3. How does Viatris Australia bring employees and your partners along your sustainability journey?
Employees – We bring employees along the journey, not only by educating them on the latest sustainability policies and practices for the company, but also educating them on the latest individual practices so that they know how their individual actions impact our greater sustainability goals. For example, to support reaching our zero waste landfill reduction targets, we started a program at Carole Park for all employees to learn about how to appropriately dispose of office waste.
This not only means our employees can directly help to meet company waste reduction goals, but it also means that they can take the knowledge home and continue to reduce waste beyond the workplace.
We’re always looking for ways to integrate sustainability and work with our partners on this. For example, through our relationship with National Pharmacies we support a blister pack recycling program. In just its first eight months, the program diverted over 2.2 tonnes of material from landfill and collected approximately 1.5 million blister packs.
We also work with local universities to give students opportunities to get involved with sustainable practices in industry, laying sustainability into the foundations of their future careers before they even start.
Q4. How is this measured?
Our measurements are quite specific to each section of sustainability, we base all measurements in science and where we can, align them with global standards and certifications. Our global greenhouse gas emissions targets are in line with the Paris Agreement. We align our water targets with the World Resource Institute initiatives. We also set ongoing targets, that allow us to constantly review our practices and optimise both efficiency and environmental impact, such as our clean energy targets. In Australia at Carole Park, we are currently installing a 99kW solar PV system that is estimated to generate 158,000 kWh of energy per year and we are already planning to expand our solar capabilities.
We are also committed to annual reporting on important sustainability matters and are working to further enhance our disclosure and we have been doing that for the past 3 years.
Q5. Is the healthcare manufacturing industry increasingly embracing sustainability?
There has been increasing awareness across the industry, and beyond, of the importance of sustainability in healthcare. Companies like Viatris who have global reach are increasingly aware of the impact they have on our environment, as well as the unique place we have to be able to leverage global networks, partners and stakeholders to work towards sustainable operations together.
Q6. Are employees keen to support your environmental stewardship efforts?
We continually strive to create a work environment where colleagues can learn, grow and make an impact in the world. Sustainability and looking after the environment are important at Viatris and last year colleagues participated in a cleanup day in Sydney and Melbourne in partnership with Clean Up Australia.
Q7. How can publications, such as Eco Voice, play their part in promoting sustainability?
Publications like Eco Voice have an important role to play in highlighting sustainability initiatives across sectors so that Australian companies, organisations and community groups can continue to innovate, learn and improve.
ABOUT ECO VOICE
First published in 2003, Eco Voice is your go-to publication for sustainability news in Australia. Eco Voice prides itself as an independent news platform with a clear focus on sustainability, with articles coming from a diverse range of contributors – all levels of government, corporations, not-for-profits, community groups, small to medium sized businesses, universities, research organisations, together with input from international sources. Eco Voice values community, conservation and commerce. Eco Voice is a media partner of the prestigious Australian Banksia Sustainability Awards – The Peak Sustainability Awards.
ABOUT VIATRIS AUSTRALIA
With approximately 800 employees, our Australian business is a prime example of our proven scientific, manufacturing and distribution expertise with leading regulatory, medical and commercial capabilities which bring quality medicines to patients when and where they need them.
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www.nativeshop.com.au
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