Editor’s note:

Luye Life Sciences Group commends a group of employees and management staff in each year’s anniversary celebration, for their excellent performance in different perspectives: collaboration, innovation, excellence, talent development and others. This year, 79 individuals are awarded with Management Principle Practice and Culture Star awards. They strive and thrive with Luye together for a better future. This month, we are delight to have 6 award-winning representatives to share their growing stories with Luye.

Q：Thank you all for taking this interview, please give us a brief introduction of yourself as a start.
 

Patronus Biotech QC Supervisor Zhang Shaoyun

Zhang: Hi, my name is Zhang Shaoyun from Yantai Patronus. After graduating from graduate school in 2012, I joined the R&D center of Luye Pharma and transferred to Patronus in June 2021, where I am currently the Head of Quality Control and leading a team involved in QC work for several major projects.
 

Luye Nanjing Preparation Department Manager Jiao Yi

Jiao: I’m Jiao Yi from Luye Nanjing. I joined Luye in October of 2000 after graduation from university, now serve as the Manager of Preparation Department, responsible for preparation manufacturing. I have participated in the development of preparation products and pilot-scale mass production.

 
Luye Pharma Northeast Sales Manager of the North Region Xu Shengrui 

Xu: Hello everyone, I am Xu Shengrui, Sales Manager from the Northeast Region of the Luye Pharma CNS Division, I joined the company in October 2019 and responsible for the regional marketing of the entire north region. After returning to the sales team in July 2022, I am responsible for the sales management of the Northeast region.

 
WPU QC Physicochemical Analysis Supervisor Guo Yinlei

Guo: I’m Guo Yinlei from Beijing WBL Peking University Biotech Company (WPU). I graduated from Zhengzhou University in July 2016, and joined the company after graduation, and have been engaged in QC-related work, currently serving as the Supervisor of physical and chemical analysis, responsible for the management of laboratory work in the physical and chemical analysis lab.

 
Boan Biotech Non-Clinical Research Department Manager Zhang Yanan

Zhang: Hi, I’m Zhang Yanan from Boan Biotech. I graduated from China Pharmaceutical University in 2015 and joined Boan in August 2019. I am currently the manager of Boan's non-clinical research department, mainly responsible for the non-clinical pharmacological and toxicological research. During this period, I led the non-clinical studies of 4 innovative biologics projects and supported the projects to complete IND filings. Currently, I am responsible for the non-clinical and early pharmacological and toxicological evaluation of 7~10 biologics under development.
 

Luye Investment, Quality and Technical Supervisor, Wine Production Department Wu Lixiao

Wu: My name is Wu Lixiao from Pula Valley of Luye Investment Group. I joined the company in 2016 as Quality & Technical Supervisor, responsible for quality management of wine production.

Q: Ms. Zhang, what are the key factors that enable your team (Patronus) to operate efficiently in the face of staff shortage and inexperience?

Zhang: First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to each and every member of the team for the dual challenges of resource and time constraints on our project. Even so, the team members were fully committed to their work and invested great energy and effort into the project with excellent professionalism and selfless dedication. In such a challenging environment, we achieve efficient operations through several key strategies:

First, flexible deployment of resources, we can efficiently adjust and allocate resources according to the urgency and progress of the project to ensure that the most important and urgent tasks can be supported in a timely manner. Second is training and trust, because most of the members are young and lack relevant knowledge in vaccines, so they will be provided with necessary training and guidance, trust the employees' ability, encourage them to actively learn and take responsibility, and promote the rapid growth and learning of team members. Third, transparent and effective communication is very important in a stressful work environment, and we will ensure close collaboration through regular meetings and feedback mechanisms to increase team cohesion and move forward together. Fourth, in a high speed and busy work environment, it is also necessary to continuously improve the morale and motivation of team members through motivation and recognition. Fifth, we pay attention to our employees' health and ensure that they stay in good working condition under the pressure of intense work through flexible work arrangements. The most important thing is to establish common goals and values to support everyone to face challenges together.
 

Patronus team

Q: Mr. Xu, the Northeast sales team led by you has achieved excellent results this year, with both Seroquel and Ruoxinlin ranking first in sales nationwide. How did you implement the concept of results orientation in your work and in leading your team?

Xu: Delivering results for the sales team is a duty. When I first took over the Northeast team, the overall delivery of results was not ideal, and it was time to reflect on the process and identify problems. I will ask each team member the same three questions: 1. Do you understand the problems in your area, the gap between it and the target, and our expectations. 2. whether the meetings and programs you are promoting are meeting the growth and targets for the entire region. 3. what additional things you would like to do for your region to help achieve results. After sorting out these three questions, we will work together to develop a plan. In the process of executing the plan, I have reached a consensus with my team members that we will share the burden of the final outcome, whether it is good or bad. I think it is necessary to give them enough confidence and trust, even if the final result is not satisfactory, there is no need to worry, because this is the plan we made together, half of which is even more my responsibility, I am not worried about people making mistakes, I am more worried that they are afraid to do it for fear of making mistakes.

We stuck to the right path in our own way and after a period of adjustment the Northeast team has made some progress. For the future, I think it is still important to maintain the attitude of being prepared for potential risks, taking into account the actual situation in our region, and leading the team to continue to move forward in the right direction.
 

CNS Northeast Team of the North Region

Q: Ms. Wu, you have participated and led the Pula Valley team in a number of novel patent projects, how do you achieve continuous innovation in your work?

Wu: Our Group has maintained an innovative strategy for many years, and for the wine industry, winemaking needs to incorporate the winemaker's own ideas. While completing my daily work, I develop ideas and dare to make breakthroughs, explore the performance of each production and experimental equipment, and review each production and inspection process. For example, the oak barrels used for wine storage need to be filled weekly to keep them full, but since the barrels are stacked on top of each other, we use self-made equipment to add wine to the barrels using the air pressure in the confined space inside. I have led and participated in 12 utility model patent projects, and 6 patents have been submitted to the application stage for review. These patents mainly target some small difficulties in practical work, and we find solutions through innovation, which can improve production efficiency, brand value and enterprise competitiveness while meeting the declaration of high-tech enterprise, and help winery development.

Wine Production Department

Q： Mr. Jiao, after completing the reorganization and optimization of Nanjing Luye preparation workshop, you coordinated the management in a timely manner, actively carried out personnel training, achieved cost reduction and efficiency increase, and efficiently assisted in the promotion of a number of new projects. Can you share how the management principles have guided and influenced your work?

Jiao: I see management principles as an action plan, which can help me to identify focused areas and direction in my work. Our department is responsible for the manufacturing of multiples products; the original structure is a dedicated group of workers for a specific product. With the development of the market in recent years, the production capacities of products are changing, therefore we actively responded to the Group’s call for continuous improvement. We started to review the rationale of original organizational structure to see how to optimize. We conducted in-depth communication with workshop supervisors and key staff, meticulously sorted out the staffing requirements of each process, and then combined with the market sales demand, we found that there was a possibility of staggered production among the varieties, and this idea was supported by the management team. After reorganization and optimization, we have reduced our staffing by 17 people, effectively saving labor costs.

Regarding staff development, we believe that talent is the most important asset for the future. On the one hand, we strengthen personnel training, expand the staff's understanding of the technical process, new technologies and new regulations. On the other hand, we guide our employees to make improvements and innovations, even if some ideas are not mature, we will give encouragement. We work with everyone in solving problems and overcoming difficulties to improve the confidence and ability of all employees.

 
Luye Nanjing Preparation Team

Mr. Guo, as one of the outstanding young employees and front-line managers of WPU, you have presented excellent achievements in practicing the management principles and leading your team to explore capability breakthroughs and improve efficiency. Can you share your insights and takeaways?

Guo: I am relatively young in the team, so it was initially challenging to lead the team. For me, the management principle is like a guidance that provided me with direction and methods. I can refer to the positive behaviors in my practice and continue to improve them in the subsequent management process, and through self-reflection, I have concluded some insights:
First, I will clearly communicate key information such as background and objectives when assigning tasks to team members to ensure that everyone can be clear about their work tasks; Second, giving respect and support to employees in their work, discussing action plans with them, fully listening to their opinions and enhancing the sense of participation; Third, publicly recognize employees who are willing to give, and warn employees who are inefficient; Fourth, let team members have enough development possibilities, develop targeted performance improvement direction for each employee, so that they feel valued to be more motivated; Fifth, emphasize the importance of win-win cooperation within the team, encourage original members and colleagues who join later to cooperate with each other, give full play to each person's strengths and expertise, and assign the right work tasks to the right people.

In addition, in response to the Group's call to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and after fully listening to the opinions of colleagues in the team, optimization adjustments were made in various aspects: reducing manpower and equipment procurement costs by $720,000 through process optimization; negotiating with service providers to achieve savings of $22,000 in instrument maintenance costs; organizing the repair of non-precision equipment parts , saving nearly $10,000; optimizing the procurement process of laboratory materials by the supervisor of the initial review to reduce non-essential expenditure; changing the distillation ethanol quality control method to improve the efficiency of inspection and release; organizing the equipment verification cycle and apparatus storage period extension inspection to reduce duplication of work.
 

WPU QC Physical and Chemical Analysis Team

Q： Ms. Zhang, you have effectively improved the effectiveness and output of Boan's non-clinical team through the management methods of "one person for multiple positions, complementary strengths and optimized business processes". Can you share your experiences with us?

Zhang: Boan has grown rapidly in recent years and currently has 13 products under development, involving biosimilar, innovative large molecule drugs like monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies, ADCs and cellular therapies, etc., which has put forward increasing requirements and challenges to the business capabilities of the preclinical evaluation department.

Firstly, as far as I am concerned, I have always focused on the drug development industry, following the guidelines related to drug development issued by domestic and foreign regulatory agencies, constantly updating my knowledge and improving my professional abilities to meet the evaluation needs of different projects at different stages. Secondly, due to the department being in its infancy and growth phase, its staffing is relatively small. In order to meet business needs, specific positions are set according to the business, and employees are assigned based on their strengths. At the same time, coaching and training are provided to ensure that each employee is capable of at least 2 positions, achieving mutual learning and progress. In addition, in terms of business processes, for each individual R&D project, non clinical work is managed according to PDCAR (Plan, Do, Inspect, Act, Deliver Results) rules. For cross departmental business processes, we have established cross departmental workflows, formed SMPs and SOPs, and implemented them. While ensuring the control of processes and related documents, we have greatly improved management efficiency and formed a good work loop. Most importantly, unlike small molecule drugs, innovative biological products require a "customized" preclinical evaluation plan to fully evaluate safety and efficacy at the animal level, providing reference for clinical trials. Our current project is based on the pharmacological characteristics and molecular design concepts of the product itself, combined with the latest guidelines and regulations, to accurately develop a "case by case" non clinical pharmacological and toxicological evaluation plan, conduct a "correct" evaluation, and avoid "excessive evaluation" leading to labor consumption, energy, and resources.
 

Boan Biotech Non-Clinical Research Team

Q：In our conversation, I can feel that in addition to individual and team efforts and cooperation, the success of a project is also dependent on efficient inter-departmental collaboration. Can you share your thoughts on it?

Zhang: Indeed, our results cannot be achieved without the resource support of Boan's senior leadership and the collaboration of all the other departments. I feel that the entire Luye is filled with the culture of efficient collaboration. In our daily work, as long as the requirements are clear and not beyond the scope of business, all departments will actively and efficiently cooperate, and the cooperation between all departments of Boan advocates the guideline of “early intervention, mutual penetration and good cooperation". I think the key to efficient collaboration is to consciously practice the management principles for efficient collaboration. Cross-departmental collaboration requires clear demands and active support.

Jiao: For cross-departmental cooperation, we should avoid the mindset of "troublesome", first consider the necessity and reasons of the work, let the participants to understand the benefits and value of doing so, and enhance the willingness of everyone to cooperate; Second is to create an atmosphere of interdepartmental cooperation, fully recognizing employees with outstanding performance in this area; third, to convey the idea of "we are for everyone, everyone is for me" to form a positive interaction.

Wu: I think the key is to clarify the requirements and the final results and purpose, and we have to do detailed communication with other departments in advance, so that we can prepare a response plan in advance and avoid being caught off guard when unexpected events occur. In addition, I think that when multiple departments work together, there should be a leader to coordinate the active cooperation of each department to improve efficiency.

Guo: I have some ideas and suggestions for cross-departmental cooperation: 1. At present, there are still information barriers between departments, and I wonder if we can improve our understanding of other departments through a rotation mechanism in the future; 2. for cross-departmental cooperation, we can explain to each other the benefits  and promote the willingness to cooperate; 3. personal communication skill is a very important soft power  and I am constantly practicing, which is very effective for cross-departmental coordination; 4.WPU has weekly meeting, during which we will fully communicate and exchange the difficult points in our work, find out the solutions and promote together, and many matters can be solved quickly.

Xu: Based on my experiences with the marketing department and the sales team, I think the level of enthusiasm and dedication of all colleagues at Luye for their work is admirable. For cross-departmental cooperation, first of all, I would like to thank my direct leaders for their support, which helps a lot in implementing the sales team's plan; Second, in the process of communication between us and other departments, it is necessary to understand each other and think in each other's role, which can promote us to reach a win-win situation in the end; Finally, our work is also indispensable to the active promotion and continuous reflection of all partners in the Northeast team during the project execution.

Zhang: In our daily cooperation with other departments, we need to clarify goals, define responsibilities, communicate fully, think differently and generate consensus in order to reach common goals. We need to provide each other with enough information to keep track of the process and results to make it smoother and create win-win results. In addition, we need to communicate fully and consistently in the process of cooperation, so that we can ensure the efficient advancement of the task.

Q: We will celebrate Luye’s 30th birthday next year, please share with your future expectations.

Guo: Luye will celebrate its 30th birthday next year, and I will also be 30. The company has developed into a super carrier, and it is marching toward the vision of becoming a “respected world leading pharmaceutical company”. I will also lead my team to follow up with the company, try my best to practice management principles, develop more talents for our company, and build up an efficient tea.

Zhang: We expect to create better performance in this position and improve Boan's non-clinical system to meet the needs of the company's rapid development. I will lead the team to achieve mutual development with the company, contribute our efforts for the coming 30th year.

Zhang: I expect my team to grow faster, our project can make greater progress. I hope both Luye and Patronus can have a promising future. As one of the startup members of Patronus, we are growing with Patronus step by step. I hope our team can achieve project targets and present our results to Luye’s 30th birthday as a gift.

Wu: I still remember what Chairman Liu has said during this year’s annual meeting: he has never been so confident about the future as he is now, which is also a great inspiration to me. It takes 10 years to sharpen a sword, Luye has launched many new products since last year, I’m fully confident about the future.

Xu: I hope the northeast team can keep achieving better results and more breakthroughs in the future. I also hope team members can achieve constant improvement in their life and work. Personally, as a front-line worker of CNS products, I feel proud to promote Luye’s self-developed new drugs like Ruoxinlin. As front-line workers, our team is expected to witness Luye becoming a leading enterprise in CNS. 

Jiao: I have been with the company for 20+ years and witnessed the development of the company step by step. As a production staff, I can feel the rising demand of product sales, next year we will definitely have more challenges, we are willing to accept and enjoy this challenge, and make our contribution to the Group's performance. It is said that at the age of 30, a man should be able to think for himself. I believe that through the hard work and innovation of each business unit, Luye will usher in greater glory.

Q：Thank you all for your wonderful sharing. May we all be together all the way and welcome a better tomorrow for Luye.