Remote, Hybrid or In-Office
When it comes to professional experiences in corporate environments, between 2015 and 2018, I had one of the most enriching professional experiences of my career — an ecosystem with a horizontal structure, an international environment, and a startup-like atmosphere. The operations center was in Zug, with monthly visits to the European HUB and periodic meetings in our Madrid offices.
However, most of the internal meetings were primarily virtual, held weekly, with a globally connected team sharing their progress. From my personal experience, everything worked exceptionally well, from the price and reimbursement preparation phase in each country to the necessary negotiations and the follow-up of different national access archetypes and their corresponding plans to monitor each market.
Fortunately, today I’m enjoying a profesional experience with a very similar format.
But it hasn’t always been that way. I remember one particular case — after the pandemic — where the policy implemented by HR required spending 60% of working hours in the office. However, the problem was not meeting the quota; the issue was the lack of common sense. Even when being on the same floor of the building, 90% of the meetings with my department management were conducted via teleconference.
In other words, the problem is not following the rules, perhaps the key-point should be whether the rule itself makes sense given the technology available in 2025.
Regarding interactions with external clients, there has undoubtedly been a post-pandemic shift toward the hybrid model. Even in the most Mediterranean cultures of Europe, this trend is real and data-driven. Reviewing my 2024 interaction statistics, 72.25% of my external interactions were virtual.
Although I had already experienced the benefits of hybrid and remote work between 2015 and 2018, statistics indicate that before 2020, most companies in the pharma, biotech, and medtech industries relied on in-person models. This was especially logical for critical roles such as laboratory research and manufacturing. However, the pandemic accelerated the adoption of remote work for administrative and strategic roles. By 2023, more than 50% of employees who could work remotely preferred a hybrid model. This shift led companies to reevaluate their strategies for attracting and retaining talent.
By 2025, while remote work remains popular, many companies are promoting a partial or full return to in-person work to foster collaboration, innovation, and productivity.
According to recent studies, 64% of employees feel more productive working remotely. However, 46% prefer working primarily in the office or in a hybrid format. Younger generations (Millennials and Gen Z) show a clear preference for hybrid or remote work, though not all of them can access these models.
As mentioned earlier, some companies have adopted flexible approaches depending on the role. While critical functions, such as laboratory research, require physical presence, areas like marketing and analytics have successfully adapted to remote or hybrid work.
David Bonilla recently discussed sunk costs in his Bonilista newsletter, and precisely on this point, many pharma, biotech, and medtech companies are opting to reduce their real estate footprint by signing more flexible leases and using shared spaces. There is also a growing investment in smart offices with advanced technologies to support hybrid models. However, as mentioned earlier, in terms of research areas, biotechnology companies in Spain increased their R&D investment by 17%, reaching €1.218 billion in 2022.
No one better than Enrique Dans, my mentor, to read about distributed work in several of his publications. In an increasingly connected world, with more opportunities to work in the cloud and with available technology, we can avoid redundant processes and operations, minimize unnecessary in-person meetings, save on pointless time losses and economic costs, and focus on developing critical thinking to steer conversations toward corporate strategy — eliminating isomorphism, routine, and the meaningless repetition of outdated procedures from the last century.
Obviously, we are always pivoting around the idea of finding the right work culture with the right people. Results speak louder than office hours.
This is about delivering value and solutions.
EDUCATIONAL PILLS:
International Master in Medical Affairs. Program part of the educational offerings of the BioTech and Pharma School. In Memoriam César Nombela. Certified by the Catholic University of Ávila. Information
Advanced Management Program. IE Business School. Executive Development Programs. Information
READING PILLS:
O Hospital, number 39, published by APDH. + info
Health Economics and Outcomes Research: Biopharma’s Underappreciated Value Creator, by Rob Abbot. MedCity News.
The European Health Data Space Regulation (EU) 2025/327 has already been published! PredictBy.
Ibero Latin American Journal of Health System Pharmacy. by OFIL. January- February, 2025.
Does Regulatory and Reimbursement Parallel Processing Provide Swifter Funded Access to Medicines for Patients? Evaluation of Cancer Medicines Using the Australian Parallel Process. Yuan Gao Mah Laka Tracy Merlin. ISPOR.
Strategic Report of the Critical Medicines Alliance. February 2025. Critical Medicines Alliance.
STARTUP PILLS:
Investment oportunitties: Capital Cell.
After String of Acquisitions, Access TeleCare Has Become the Go-To Provider of In-Hospital Telemedicine. Startup Health.
PODCAST PILLS:
I have to admit that when it comes to podcasts, I’m quite behind on the episodes of Kaizen with Jaime Rodríguez de Santiago. I’ve been a member of the community almost since the beginning, and I’m catching up now. I highly recommend it for activating critical thinking and continuous improvement. It’s in Spanish, though there are some episodes in English.
EVENT PILLS:
EAA Spring Convention, April 2/3 in Berlin. April 2nd: EAA Roundtable on Medical Devices April 3rd: EAA Convention (on Medicinal Products) Registration
The AI for Pharma Market Access Course, with Dr Stefan Walzer. Cel-for-pharma. April, 9–10, 2025.
Joint Clinical Assessment 2025: Pioneering Pathways for Oncology, Advanced Therapies & Rare Diseases. Health Economics. April, 10, 2025.
Fierce Pharma Engage, April 29, May 1 | Town & Country Resort, San Diego, CA
Health Economics and Policy Evaluation Course 2025 — ONLINE. Oxford University. May, 7–9, 2025.
Fierce Pharma Week — September 8–11 | Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, PA.
