Our Most Valuable Resource

Heading into the New Year often signifies setting new goals and raising the bar a notch or two.

For me, several of those goals revolve around finding new ways to further Pharmaceutical Commerce as a brand in perhaps ways that might go unnoticed. One of the initiatives I’ve taken on is making the conscious effort to leverage our editorial advisory board (EAB), which was originally put together by Davy James, our group editorial director, and I.

The main purpose of an EAB (ours is below) is to draw on its members’ experience in the industry for the betterment of the publication. In the case of Pharma Commerce, assembling an esteemed EAB ledger of accomplished senior industry leaders and KOLs, which we initially launched in 2024, was a task that couldn’t be completed overnight, but rather, over the course of several months.

And today, of course, the process, refinements, and relationships remain continuous and invaluable to our editorial efforts. For example, toward the latter half of 2025 especially, I’ve had the privilege of connecting with several of our members, including Cheryl Allen; Alan Balch, PhD; Blake Powers; Bill Roth; Ed Schoonveld; and Ela Lourido, with more collaborations forthcoming.

At times, it’s simply been to catch up, while in other instances, it was to provide thought leadership in the form of a quote, video interview, or article contribution.

For Lourido specifically, she co-wrote an article for our February issue with her McKesson colleague, Joe DePinto, which you can find here.

I share these happenings not to make it about our publication specifically, but to stress this core value: the role of an EAB is not to be overlooked. Their feedback and knowledge represent the backbone of what our magazine is all about—sharing insights from experts in the pharma industry, from the supply chain to market access, who are keenly interested in—and passionate about—how approved drugs can effectively enter the market.

If you happen to run into any of our members at one of the industry’s many conferences, I encourage you to say hello and to pick their brain—you won’t regret it.

— Nicholas Saraceno is Pharmaceutical Commerce's senior editor. He can be reached at [email protected].