Patricio Casillas’s journey into the world of clinical trials had some zigs and zags along the way, yet he somehow always suspected he’d end up on the research and development (R&D) side of the equation.
Patricio brings over 20 years of leadership experience in healthcare across various sectors including pharma, med device, value-based primary care, hospital, pharmacy, and DME. He earned a B.S. in Biology from Duke University and an M.B.A from Stanford University. He’s an alum of Eli Lilly, and Johnson & Johnson, where his passion for medical innovation first took root.
From Commercial Strategy to R&D Curiosity
“As a leader at big pharma companies like Eli Lilly years ago, I was participating in the commercial side marketing and selling products,” he recalls today, just over a year into being named CEO of Rovia Clinical Research. “However, I always had a strong curiosity about the R&D side of how our industry developed drugs and other treatments designed to enhance life and alleviate suffering.”
After he left the commercial side of Big Pharma, Patricio took a leadership role with a primary care group boasting more than 40 clinics. There, he benefitted from a fortuitous professional experience that reignited his interest in clinical trials. “Our primary care group was approached about conducting trials, and I was very intrigued about how to provide that ancillary service to our patients,” he says.
Addressing Fragmentation Through Quality Leadership
As Patricio was mulling the best ways to incorporate clinical trials into his primary group practice, he received an offer to serve as CEO at Rovia, ultimately jumping at the chance to become more directly involved in the product development side of medical innovation.
As a CEO, he’s committed to raising the bar on clinical trial quality by addressing the industry’s fragmentation and relative lack of consistent quality. “We have an opportunity to make clinical trials more effective and high quality for everyone,” Patricio says.
The Power of a Non-Zero-Sum Industry
Luckily, the clinical trial ecosystem is poised to further improve performance in part because “it is such a collaborative environment,” he notes. “Clinical trial practitioners don’t view it as a zero-sum game, and that makes for a nice dynamic” where professionals can come together as members of AMRC and in other forums to “openly and transparently collaborate” and share insights and best practices designed to enhance clinical trial operations, he says. “You don’t have that kind of energy in a lot of other industries,” Patricio adds.
The Rovia CEO is passionate about expanding the access of breakthrough therapies to patients in order to increase quality of life, reduce disease burden, and curb the overall cost of healthcare.
Finally, he says it’s the impact on the patients that especially drives and inspires him. “Being able to be part of treatments that move the needle on quality of life is really meaningful,” he says. “It makes being involved in advancing clinical trials incredibly fulfilling.”
