1. [A letterof testimonyfromBarri Blauvelt,CEOInnovaraInc supportingBruce Ratcliffe resume
expertisein MarketResearchandCustomerInsights,BusinessSolutions Development, Strategic
PartnershipDevelopmentandOrganisationCapabilityDevelopment]
To whomit mayconcern:
We have knownandworkedcloselywithMr.Ratcliffe since 2000,whenwe firstcollaboratedona
majorAsiaPacific– US initiativeforGlaxoSmithKline Corporation(GSK),whichevolvedintothe GSK
Advance Program. The program was strategicallyconceivedtohelpGSKenterintorelationships
withthoughtleadersinendocrinologyanddiabetes,inanticipationof launchingamajornew
productin diabetes.
Mr. Ratcliffe organizedaninitial meetinggatheringthese leaderstogether,and we helpedto
facilitationasurveytodeterminetheirneedsforadvancingendocrinologyanddiabetesintheir
countries. There wasneveranydirectlinkage toGSK’sbrand.What ensuedwasthe mostimpactful
and innovativemedicaleducationexchangeinthe world. UnderMr. Ratcliffe’sleadership,we
organizedandconducteda seriesof unique peer-leddiabeteseducationalexchanges
(preceptorships,etc.) withthe topinstitutionsandcentersof excellence indiabetes,endocrinology,
and relatedmorbidities includingobesity,cardiovasculardisease,pancreatictransplantation,etal) in
the USA and world.
The aim wasnot for onlyforthe Asia-Pacificleaderstolearnfromtheirpeersatthese top
institutions,buttoenable these institutionstogaina deep appreciationforanddevelopresearch
and educational collaborationswiththe bestof the bestfromthe Asianregion. Whenthe company
didlaunchtheirnewdrug,it rapidlybecame the marketleader,andindeed#1performance inthe
worldforGSK. As an aside,Mr. Ratcliffe’sbossatthe time,Andrew Witty,alsogainedrecognition
for thissuccessandwenton to become CEOfor GSK (althoughinfact,he had verylittle direct
involvementinthe Advance program). Planningbeganin2000; the firstcollaborative educational
exchange beganin2002 and continuedfor6+ years.
Importantly,new,deepandlastingresearchandeducational East-Westrelationshipsdeveloped
betweenthe institutionsandthoughtleaders.Today,manyof the researchfellowsandfaculty atthe
US institutions(JohnsHopkins,MassachusettsGeneralHospital/Harvard,ClevelandClinic,Mayo
Clinic,NIHandothers) indiabetesandendocrinologynow come fromthese Asia-Pacinstitutions,
such as AsanMedical,Yonsei University,andSeoul National UniversityinKorea,National Taiwan
University,National Universityof Singapore,FirstPekingHospital andothersacrossChina,and
others,underthese leaderswhowere engagedinthe Advance program.These relationshipsalsoled
to theirinstitutions have formedmore directlinkagesfromthe top.Insome countries,“Advance”
alumni continue tomeetandfostersucheducational exchangesdirectly. (A slide presentation sent
to participatingMDs,withinformationfromthisprogram, isavailableshouldyourequire more
information).
There were otherinitiativeswe collaboratedonwithMr.Ratcliffe whileatGSK,but the nextmajor
one came whenhe movedtoMerck Corporation(a.k.a.MSD,internationally). Inhisrole asAsia
Pacificheadof SpecialtyMedicines,Mr.Ratcliffe ledthe Excellence inSpecialty
Pharmaceuticals (“ESP”) project,whichhe partneredwithInnovara. Thisprogramwasconceivedby
Mr. Ratcliffe while undergoingorientationatMerck at Global HQ (USA) in2011, and was completed
in2012.

2. Whenhe returnedto MSD AsianPacificregionlate 2011, he proposedthe ESPprojectand
proceededtogainthe full supportof the regional Presidentandgeneral managersof major
countriesinthatregion,whichinof itself wasnosmall feat.The aimof ESP wasto determine the
trends,challengesand“bestpractices”desiredof industrybyspecialistsin8differentspecialties
across the region,andstrategiesforMSD to become one of these.
There were 4 phasesof the project.
Phase 1 was the Internal Phase – to gaina baseline understandingwithinthe organizationof what
theythoughtbestpracticeswere orneededtobe,andareas for improvementrequiredbyMSD.
Phase 2 was to conductindependentresearchexternally,amongspecialistsacross8 medical fields,
in5 keycountriesthatwere diverse bothintermsof the level of sophistication,regulatorycontrol
and reimbursement/payersystems,aswell associoeconomics(S.Korea,Taiwan,Thailand,Australia
and India). (Note:The researchforthisphase wasreferredtoasESH: Excellence inSpecialty
Healthcare,todistinguishitfromsubsequentphasesof researchwiththe industryandwiththe
overall MSDproject.)
Phase 3’s aimwas to validate findingsfromPhase 2withthose companieswhowere recognizedas
“bestpractice”by the specialistsandgainadditionalinputsof theirleadershiptoinformwhatdrove
theirsuccessinspecialtyfields.
FinallyPhase 4was to share the blindedresultsbackwiththe respectiveparticipantsof the research.
Thisincluded,of course,MSD.
The culminatingpresentationof resultstoMSD by Mr. Ratcliffe andInnovarawasdone at a major
regional meetingof the company,inVietnam, whichalsoincludedintroducingthe new Presidentof
the region.He immediatelycommittedatthatmeetingtocarry forwardon these
recommendations. (Itshouldbe notedthatthisincomingPresidentalsowasone of the participants
inPhase 1 of the study,while atglobal HQ.)
Resultsof thisstudywere a majoreye openerforMSD, andsignaledthe needforbothimmediate
and longertermorganizational andoperational changes,new strategiccommercial andmedical
directions,andredistributionandreprioritizationof resourcesaccordingly.
Interestingly,the resultsalsohadaglobal ripple effect.Theywere presentedbyMr. Ratcliffe and
Innovarato executivemanagementatthe corporate level atGlobal HQ,withthe realizationthatthe
needsidentifiedbyspecialistsandsuccessfulstrategiesof leaderswithinthe AsiaPacificregionwere
infact largelyuniversal. Merck/MSDcontinuestoworkon these recommendationsacrossthe
regiontoday.
Throughout,Mr. Ratcliffe wasintimatelyinvolvedinleading,guidingandanalyzingresults,and
communicatingeachstepof the wayto MSD executivesand leadershipnotonlyinthe AsiaPacific
region,butalsoat global corporate levels. Havingworkedextremelycloselywithhimthroughout,
my teamcan attestto hisleadershipandabilitytonetworkand“workthe system”andpoliticsthat
can be the death knell of suchprojectsif nothandledinthe mostdiplomaticandinclusive
way. Equallyimportant,the specialistswere veryappreciative of oursharingthe resultsof the study
back withthem– thisis rarelyif everdone byresearchorganizationsandaddedtothe transparency
and credibilityof the effort.A presentationthatwassharedbackwiththe medical thought
leaders/specialistswhoparticipatedinthe study isavailableshouldyourequire additional
informationandadraft white papersummarising the projectisattachedforreference.

3. Feel free tocontact me for furtherrecommendationorinformation.
Most sincerely,
Barri
Barri M. Blauvelt
CEO, Innovara,Inc.
AdjunctFaculty,Institute forGlobal Health,U.of Massachusetts
StudyDirector,International andNationalPrioritiesforLiverCancerControl,JohnsHopkins
BloombergSchool of PublicHealth
Co-founderandmember,Executive Committee,EthnicResearchInitiativeinCancer
(www.ericancer.org)
Member,(US) President'sCancerPanel (2009- 2010, withreportissuedin2011)
Chair,WomeninHigh Places:Leadingthe Global Challenge of Medicine
105 Middle St.
Hadley,Mass.01035 USA
Office Tel:1-413-387-6188
Mobile:1-413-687-3901
SKYPE: barri.blauvelt
Twitter:twitter.com/barriblauvelt
barri.blauvelt@innovara.com
Assistant:Adri Bekker(adri.bekker@innovara.com)
Twitter:twitter.com/barriblauvelt
SKYPE: barri.blauvelt
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