Interviews

Per Lisa Hau, Bidstack’s chief strategy officer, “Gaming has an audience that is undeniable. It reaches one-third of the world's population and continues to grow.” And the average gamer is not the popularly imagined anti-social teenage male, as “45% of gamers are now female, and the average age sits comfortably at 34 years old.” It’s a compelling opportunity for beauty brands, Bidstack says.

HBW Insight catches up with US executive editor, Malcolm Spicer, to discuss Perrigo subsidiary HRA Pharma’s Rx-to-OTC switch application for its daily contraceptive, Opill. With the switch currently under consideration by the US Food and Drug Administration after a positive recommendation from its advisory committees, Spicer draws on his in depth coverage of the subject, as well as his extensive experience writing about the US consumer health market, to tell listeners what they need to know about this historic switch.

John Villafranco, partner at Kelly Drye & Warren LLP, says the US FTC’s ability to obtain monetary relief using the penalty offense mechanism is questionable both on statutory and Constitutional grounds. Marketers faced with civil penalties – for example, for alleged inadequately substantiated health claims – should stand their ground, he suggests in a recent interview.

Consumers increasingly prize sustainable packaging, but that doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily accept compromises in aesthetics and functionality, particularly in the luxury beauty space. Experts from Marc Rosen Associates and Eastman Chemical discuss.

In this episode, HBW Insight speaks to the Global Self-Care Federation’s director of regulatory and scientific affairs, Padmaja Kamath, about the organisation’s sustainability work. In 2019, GSCF published its Global Charter for Environmental Sustainability, which represented, Kamath notes, the global consumer healthcare industry’s “first commitment to drive sustainable self-care.” Kamath updates us on the progress of the charter, which calls on GSCF members to pledge to make progress on one or more of three key sustainability areas: plastics and packaging, pharmaceuticals in the environment and CO2 footprint. We dive a little deeper into some specific challenges within these areas, such as recyclable blister packs and supply chain emissions, with Kamath pointing also to an upcoming GSCF webinar on the latter.

In this episode, HBW Insight catches up with Bayer Consumer Health’s Daniella Foster, who leads the company’s public affairs and sustainability work. Foster reports on Bayer’s progress towards its net zero goals and also its Nutrient Gap Initiative, which aims to expand access to vitamins and minerals for 50 million people in under-served communities by 2030. Foster explains the business model behind sustainability, and how the company is expanding access to self-care products in other ways, for example via Rx-to-OTC switch. This episode also digs deeper into thorny sustainability issues like greenwashing and offsetting, with Foster offering sage advice to consumer health industry colleagues. 

Brittany Barreto, CEO of FemHealth Insights, who participated in a panel discussion at SXSW 2023 on the $1t femtech industry, talks about her journey to becoming a women’s health care champion.

A proposed new European Union packaging regulation, which introduces environmental and labelling requirements and extended producer responsibility for medicines, medical devices and food supplements, could be challenging for the region's consumer health industry. But it could also be a spur to creativity, argues Chris Whitehouse, chairman and managing director of Whitehouse Communications.