Akash Gugilla, MBiotech, PMP
Market Manager
Akash completed a Master’s of Biotechnology at the University of Toronto before transitioning into brand management. He leverages his project management and analytic skills to craft innovation communication strategies in the medical devices space.
*The views and opinions expressed in this profile are those of the professional and do not necessarily reflect the official policies of their employer.
Describe your mindset when you were looking to transition from academia to industry
Initially, I entered post-secondary education with the intention of eventually going to medical school. However, I developed an interest in research where I was actually involved with publishing a couple of papers.
At the same time, I didn’t feel that I was making as direct an impact on people’s lives as I would have liked. Furthermore, I developed an entrepreneurial mindset and a strong interest in the intersection between business and science.
I then took a year off after my BSc to do some soul searching, and this is when I came across the MBiotech program at the University of Toronto. I saw a perfect fit for me as someone who wanted to transition from academia to business.
Tell us about your role
I am responsible for the commercialization of our colostomy portfolio, and my role has a couple of different components to it.
The first part is marketing where I am responsible for our messaging being engaging and efficient to help our sales representatives communicate the benefits of our products effectively to clinicians.
I also work with our digital marketing managers to ensure that our communications (e.g. presentations, videos, etc) are effective to our end users.
What made you choose your career?
“I like bringing my research skills into my work and I have discovered that these skills are important for generating all kinds of insights from customer behaviour to product sales and beyond.”
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I wouldn’t say that I had an epiphany as much as it was my mindset slowly evolving over time.
I always had this entrepreneurial passion and a desire to make a difference and I really wanted to figure out how I could do this, especially as someone who wasn’t going to be a clinician.
In pharma, you have an opportunity to make an impact in so many different ways; it becomes a question of how you want to make that impact.
Furthermore, I have found with products in the medical device space, there is a pretty broad scope with which to be creative which isn’t the case in many other industries where regulations are more stringent.
How would you advise students to frame their experiences when looking to get into your industry?
The biggest reward is when a client is thrilled with your work and how the project went. On the other hand, a frequent challenge can arise when clients have difficulty communicating internally in order to make decisions.
I’ll often end up being the person that needs to take charge to ensure that decisions are made in a timely fashion to keep a project on track.
Another challenge is when a client has a study design in place but then wants to change it completely. As a result, it’s important to make these changes in a timely manner while still producing work that is of a professional standard.
What are the biggest challenges and rewards that come with your position?
Sometimes I’ll have up to 25 objectives to balance at one time so it can be a challenge to address all of them. As a result, this forces you to prioritize your efforts, even if it can be difficult to say ‘no’.
On the other hand, I love reading feedback from our end users about how our products have made an impact on our end users’ lives. It is really heartwarming to hear how a product has had a life-changing impact and this is a big reason I love working in the medical device industry.
This is a huge source of pride and happiness to me.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic altered your role and industry?
The pandemic has forced many industries to become more virtual and our space is no different. Therefore, I am constantly thinking about how I can make our content more accessible in a virtual sense and how to better reach people virtually. There was already a trend towards virtual engagement but the pandemic has accentuated this transition.
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