What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Currently, I’m involved in an important negotiation with partners regarding the licensing of a worldwide brand and partnership to distribute in Brazil. In addition to this important deal, I´m actively working with the industry in discussions about pharmaceutical innovation, focused on intellectual property, being part of a working group created by the ministry of economy, representing a commerce chamber in Brazil. Another significant case is safeguarding our products’ competitiveness where, through administrative, judicial strategies and lawsuits, we achieved positive results ensuring the competitiveness of 3 products in our portfolio, allowing patients to continue benefited from these treatments.

Additionally, in Central America this past year, we closed the negotiation of a contract termination of one of the main distributors in the region after almost 6 months, avoiding a legal action and reconciling with the company’s objectives.

Finally, I would like to highlight that we are implementing a technological revolution in the management of our contracts, bringing significant improvement to our internal processes by automating almost 100% of the most requested contracts, by the business areas, gaining efficiency, agility and cost reduction, as well as a better hiring experience to Janssen partners.

Did the pandemic lead to a lasting increase in the interaction your legal team has with the strategic plans of the company?

As most are aware, Janssen was one of the vaccine providers for several countries worldwide, including Brazil. As a result, and throughout the pandemic, our legal department played an important and protagonist role, through a multi-functional team, with the objective of enabling the distribution of the vaccine to the Brazilian population. Although our legal team has long been focused on business needs, as a member of the company’s executive board, this involvement has further increased the company’s perception of the strategic role of our department.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

Building a strong relationship with business partners is key for the success for any in-house lawyer. Some tips that I always give my team are, for instance, to dedicate time creating relationships and building trust, less email communication and scheduling face to face meetings to talk not just about business, but also to get to know each other better. Lastly, I would recommend listening more and avoid bias during conversations with your colleagues, showing real interest in learning about their business, and being an executive with law expertise, accountable and guaranteeing that you are aligned with the same purpose.