Meet the maker: EPM talks to CN Bio's Jean-Pierre Joubert

EPM speaks to Jean-Pierre Joubert, product manager at CN Bio Innovations who talks about his journey into biotech, the challenges of drug development, and why opportunities come from unlikely places.

Could you give us a brief description of yourself and what you do at CN Bio?

Coming from a microbiology and biochemistry background, with a diverse array of interesting past roles, I have a unique perspective and approach in what I do. My previous roles include genomics product manager for a large multinational company, marketing manager, product manager for a microbiological biotechnology start-up, overseeing customer relations and sales, as well as being the laboratory manager for one of the largest aquariums in the southern hemisphere!

As a product manager at CN Bio Innovations, a market-leading organ-on-chip biotech company, I am tasked with ensuring the successful launch of my product, managing the lifecycle to ascertain a driving position within the global drug development market.

Please describe your average day in five words.

Teamwork. Intriguing. Dynamic. Coordination. Research.

At what point did you decide to be involved in the pharma market?

Upon moving to the UK from South Africa in 2016, where I was a laboratory manager in a large public aquarium, I entered the biotech field. My first product manager role was launching market-disruptive equipment related to microbiological testing (perfect with my background in microbiology and biochemistry). This linked very closely with the pharma market, and subsequent roles kept this association – as a genomics product manager and now as a product manager at CN Bio Innovations, working with equipment centred within the pharma and biotechnology spectrum.

What has been your biggest achievement?

It is going to sound clichéd, but every time I bring a new product to market, it is a new career highlight. Being a product ,manager means being involved in every aspect of the product development – from inception to launch (and beyond). Seeing something which is a culmination of ideas, proposals, design modifications and user feedback is really a fulfilling experience. I am in the fortunate position of managing products which I truly believe will make a difference – making it easy to be passionate about them!

What would you say is your worst trait?

I tend to get involved too easily, agreeing to take on more and more. I think that is why product management suits me so well – I am able to be involved in many different facets of the product cycle, though I have had to train myself to delegate and not keep putting my hand up, but rather guide others where needed.

What do you love about your job?

There is so much! I love being involved in bringing new technology, which I really believe will make a difference, to market. Working with diverse teams I get to learn something new every day, which is very important to me and keeps me growing. Being customer-facing is a huge boon to me. I absolutely love interacting with customers and building new relationships – the interplay can be quite exhilarating.

And my team at CN Bio (of course). Our company is very close-knit, filled with people at the top of their field working together as a cohesive, caring and informal team!

If anything, what would you change about your job?

The one thing I would change is accessibility to market. Organ-on-chip and microfluidic technology is still very unknown, which makes market penetration quite challenging. Though we are making a difference within the industry, I do feel that getting the technology out there and increasing exposure would benefit everyone – on all levels of the industry ladder!

If you weren’t in the pharma industry what job would you like to do?

Outside of product management, I really enjoy marketing. Having done quite a bit of it throughout my career, it is my second passion.

What challenges do you foresee being important over the next 10 years?

Resource optimisation. In this time of remote working I think people are going to need to optimise resources such as staff, space and other resources. Combine this with a greater need for medical research and drug development at a greater pace, and you have quite a challenging environment on the horizon. But it is also an exciting frontier which leaves a lot of space for innovation – which is why we at CN Bio are constantly working to improve, innovate and push the envelope.

In your opinion, what will offer the biggest opportunities in the future?

If the Covid-19 crisis has shown us anything, it is that there are opportunities in the most unlikely places.

I think major opportunities lie in drug development – and redevelopment. Being able to increase drug development efficiency, to optimise current models or test existing compounds for new applications is the wave that is building hard and fast. The pandemic has also seen companies open more to collaborations, which I feel will be the cornerstone that facilitates the greatest breakthroughs.

We at CN Bio Innovations are already collaborating with a wide variety of partners on this front – from academics to some of the world’s biggest pharma companies and regulatory bodies. Being able to bring health solutions to market cheaper and faster benefits the whole world, empowering us all to achieve our full potential.