”With more cytostatic preparations in use, drug compounding becomes a greater challenge”

Hello Didier Dubois, Sales Manager at the French branch of Pharmacolog in France! Tell us about your background and experience – why have you chosen this field of occupation?

I am a graduate of the Manchester Metropolitan University and the University Paris XI where I obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Master’s degree in International Trade. Since 2002, I have worked in the healthcare sector, for retail pharmacies first and then in the hospital sector. There, I was responsible for the commercial development of several automatic dispensing systems like cabinets, a robotic solution for medication storage and dispensing, and different compounding robots for hospital pharmacies in the French speaking areas (France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada) and the French overseas.

As Hospital Sales Manager, I was also responsible for writing the entire submission documentation in all tendering processes. My background and great experience in the hospital sector has pushed me to take on this new challenge with Pharmacolog especially because I like doing interactive presentations and exchanging different experiences with pharmacists.

What are your responsibilities at Pharmacolog?

My main responsibility at Pharmacolog is to make the French speaking market grow through presentations and demonstrations, primarily for pharmacy technicians and pharmacists responsible for chemotherapy preparations in hospitals, clinics, anti cancer centres. I actively work to sell DrugLog to new customers and maintain the existing ones. I also attend trade shows throughout France to promote Pharmacolog and demonstrate the DrugLog system.

Currently, I work closely with the Pharmacolog IT team in Uppsala on the validation of the interface between DrugLog and a French software application. The goal is to enable an even better integration of DrugLog in the compounding process of chemotherapy preparations.

In your view, what challenges do healthcare services face regarding the drug compounding process?

The number of cytostatic preparations in use is steadily increasing over time, and this generates strong pressure to prepare more and more IV bags, syringes, elastomeric pumps, and cassettes, while the human resources of pharmacy staff are limited.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Feel free to contact me or continue the discussion on our Facebook and LinkedIn pages.