Mehrdad Doustdar was appointed as the Executive Director of MSD’s Czech branch just a year ago. Nonetheless, he has dedicated his entire career to MSD, working in various countries worldwide. Personally, maintaining good health is a priority for him, which is why he enjoys activities like playing basketball, hiking, and jogging along Prague’s Náplavka.
Mr. Doustdar, one of your corporate priorities is the use of modern digital technologies. In what way o they impact the development of the company?
As MSD aspires to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company, digital technologies impact nearly every aspect of our operations, from discovery to manufacturing, distribution and customer engagement. They fundamentally shape how we innovate, collaborate, and deliver value to patients.
In research and development, advanced data analytics, machine learning and AI transform how we analyze complex biological data, identify new medicine candidates, and predict clinical test results. We can make faster and more informed decisions, reducing the time and costs of bringing a new medicine to market. In manufacturing, they help us improve production efficiency, ensure product quality and safety, and track the movement of medicines through the supply chain in real time. Here I would like to mention our MSD Global IT Technology Center in Prague. With its more than thousand employees it addresses the biggest opportunities and challenges intersecting between healthcare and information technology. With one third of these people dedicated to research and development. Its intensity, which is a parameter that shows how much you invest into R&D, is incredible 16 percent! Compare it to three percent which is the official goal of the EU and the Czech Republic to be reached by 2030.
What is the use of your innovative medicine in the Czech healthcare system? And how do you, as an expat, perceive the level of the system?
Our medications contribute to solving some of today’s most urgent public health challenges, be it infectious diseases, cancer, or chronic conditions. Our immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment of certain types of cancers. Our vaccines are crucial in preventing serious infectious diseases, reducing the burden on healthcare systems and improving public health outcomes.
For example, in the Czech Republic, every year around 300 women die of cervical carcinoma, which is a disease related to human papillomavirus (HPV) and can be prevented. A recently conducted university study demonstrated how our HPV vaccine not only saves lives, but also money. If girls now 13 years old were not vaccinated at all, direct costs for the treatment of diseases caused by HPV would be CZK 3.1 billion. With the current vaccination rate (around 70%) it is around CZK 1.3 billion. If the rate reached 90%, recommended by the WHO to reach elimination of these diseases, direct costs would be CZK 711 million.
And to your question about the Czech healthcare system. In my opinion, it is at a very good level, although there are areas to be improved. Czech healthy life expectancy is still below the average of the EU, roughly two years less. Furthermore, we still see regional differences, i.e. access to healthcare and the quality of care can vary depending on where you live. These are just two illustrative examples. Together with my team, I would like to contribute to improve this.
Health insurance companies focus on prevention, which can significantly affect employee sickness. Is vaccination the right way?
Correctly tailored prevention programmes are always more costeffective than treatment and have economic benefits, a healthy economy is created by healthy, not sick people. Vaccination is one of essential pillars of prevention, next to the mitigation of behavioural risk factors, such as wrong diet, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption and low physical activity. We have been trying to spread awareness in this direction both among the lay public and our partners from professional societies, the Ministry of Health and health insurance companies. We all need to work together in close partnership for the benefit of people living in the Czech Republic.
Thank you for the interview.
