070 - The First Auto-Injectors, ISO-11608 History, and Managing Product with Paul Jansen

Let's Combinate · 1 Feb 2023 · 50m

What this episode covers

Paul Jansen, a drug-device consultant and former Associate Vice President at Sanofi and Eli Lilly, discusses the history of auto-injectors and his role in developing ISO 11608 standards. He explains how Eli Lilly’s early development of the Lantus SoloStar pen and Sanofi’s subsequent scaling efforts required balancing startup-like agility with enterprise-level resources. Jansen details the evolution of Technical Committee 84, noting how standards initially focused on diabetes expanded to cover other therapeutics, necessitating revisions to remain relevant. He also reflects on his career, including a brief stint managing a product line with full P&L responsibility, and the importance of customer-centricity in both product design and standard-setting.

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