This article titled "Molly - the pre-configured auto injector is set for launch" was recently featured in Biospectrum Asia, highlighting SHL CEO Roger Samuelsson's thoughts on SHL's recently introduced breakthrough auto injector: Molly.

The article content can be seen below.

Swedish entrepreneur Mr. Roger Samuelsson chose to establish Scandinavian Health Ltd. (SHL) in Taiwan in 1989 and in 21 years, SHL has emerged as a leader in the design, development and manufacturing of advanced drug delivery devices. With his concentrated focus and streamlined efforts, his company is recognized as a world leader in pen injectors, auto injectors, and other advanced drug delivery systems for the international pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

Over the years, Samuelsson has gradually developed a team of over 1000 workers in Taiwan and 500 and more in Europe, USA and China. Possessing the knowledge of the western market, Samuelsson strategically utilized the resources of Taiwan and churned out a successful entity.

Mr. Samuelsson shares about the plans for SHL medical for the coming year and his strategies to further strengthen his market presence.

SHL is talking a lot about “Meet Molly.” Share more information about it and what are the plans in this regard?

Molly is an intuitive auto injector featuring an ultra-compact design, simplified 2-step operation and a permanently hidden needle. Not only does it provide all the key features that customers value, Molly is also the market’s first “pre-configured” auto injector. The key development and design work has already been standardized to accelerate speed-to-market for customers.

SHL plans to officially introduce Molly at the prestigious PDA Conference in Las Vegas, USA during October 18-19, 2010. The phrase “Meet Molly” will be used during the launch and the campaign will focus on the concepts of speed-to-market, compactness, and simplicity. Molly will also be featured at the PDA Conference in Berlin, Germany on October 26-28, 2010.

An extensive marketing campaign is already underway and a dedicated website (www.meetmolly.com) has been set up to give potential customers a better understanding of how the device works and what makes it unique.

With proactive plans in drug delivery segment, what are the upcoming expansion plans? What is your strategy for human talent provided that you have access to Asia manpower?

SHL has been continuously expanding its facility to meet the needs of increasing projects and customers. A new facility in Taiwan was established in July, 2010 to further enhance our in-house capabilities. In addition, SHL plans to further expand operations in Florida, USA as part of the establishment of SHL Pharma in Q1 2011. The Florida site will offer final assembly, packaging and labeling services to SHL’s biotech and pharmaceutical customers.

The main goal is to ensure that we provide the same level of quality systems to all customers regardless of the number of projects we are working on. Being located in Asia, we have access to a large pool of talents related to manufacturing and engineering. We also recruit overseas professionals to transfer their knowledge to ensure that the services and products we provide are of the world-class quality.

SHL has been actively recruiting talented professionals to support new and existing projects. SHL plans to hire an additional 1000 staff by 2012 in anticipation of the current growth in customers and projects.

What is the most potential market of SHL for drug delivery products and what are the strategies to capture new market?

Currently, SHL is focusing on North American, European and Japanese markets for its drug delivery systems. In future, SHL plans to expand into emerging markets such as Russia, India, and China. We are quite fortunate as SHL’s manufacturing facilities are conveniently located in Taiwan and China. With over 20 years of experience in Asia, SHL possesses greater advantages in capturing markets in Asia.

How do you see the drug delivery industry growing in Asia and what shape it is going to take in near future? Being settled in Taiwan, what is your opinion on Asian companies gaining strength as multinational companies?

With rapid advancement in pharmaceutical and biotech developments, Asia does have potential for devices related to drug delivery systems. It is difficult to foresee how the trend will take shape in the near future. However, for drug delivery systems, it requires not only advanced design, development and engineering, it is also crucial to establish a standardized system where evaluation of such devices can take place to ensure the quality, functions and safety of the device. In order to compete in the industry, it is therefore essential for Asia-based companies to establish global quality standards and proven track records that customers can appreciate and feel comfortable with.

How challenging is it for an Asia based companies to grow in the global market of medical industry. Elaborate with your experience?

SHL started out as a small trading company. I continued to look for opportunities and talented professionals to further develop the company. In order to gain the trust of global pharmaceutical and biotech companies, SHL needed to provide services and capabilities at the level they can accept, so we brought in only the best people and machines to complete the job. Acquiring the capital to do so was quite a challenge. Fortunately, we slowly gained the trust of large pharmaceutical and biotech companies and were able to grow to the size SHL is today.

SHL Group has a vast range of products. Would there be addition of new product line in SHL Medical?

Currently, with the large number of projects for SHL Medical and the growing need for auto injectors/pen injectors/inhalers, the addition of new product lines is not very likely, but I will always stay open to new opportunities. We will focus on the current product lines, optimizing the design and usability and also streamlining the design and development process. SHL has a broad range of pipeline products, so approximately 25 next generation devices will emerge in the upcoming years.

What are the business plans of SHL Medical in the coming year and what are your strategies to strengthen your position in the global market.

One of the core strategy and vision for SHL Group is in the vertical integration of capabilities. By doing so, SHL is able to provide the entire line of design, development, and manufacturing process under one roof. This makes it intuitive to establish a centralized system where the quality, efficiency, intellectual property, and cost can be effectively monitored and controlled.

SHL plans to expand on its key capabilities to provide a one-stop-shop for customers. This is mainly a result of requests from customers for such services. The Florida facility is an example of the additional capabilities provided like final assembly, final packaging and labeling. By strengthening the in-house capabilities and services, SHL will be able to further expand its position in the global market.

See the original article below and Biospectrum Asia website HERE: