Episode #4 – Dr. Juergen Horn

Globe-Trotting Visionary
From Germany to Australia to Switzerland, Dr. Horn has used his expertise and experience to combine technology with the human element to produce innovative results.

Speaker 1:
Welcome to The People of Animal Health Podcast. The host of our podcast is Stacy Pursell. Stacy is the leading executive recruiter for the animal health and veterinary industries. She’s the founder of Therio Partners and The VET Recruiter. Stacy has placed more professionals in key positions within the animal health and veterinary industries than any executive search professional. And along the way, Stacy has built relationships with some outstanding people who are doing incredible things to make a difference.

Speaker 1:
The People of Animal Health Podcast features industry leaders and trailblazers who have made a significant impact or are making an impact in the animal health and veterinary industries. Stacy chats with them to learn more about their lives, their careers, and the unique and interesting things that they have done to contribute to the animal health or veterinary industry. She is here to share their stories with you. Now here’s the host of our podcast, Stacy Pursell.

Stacy Pursell:
On today’s show, we are talking with Dr. Juergen Horn, who has had quite an interesting career so far. Dr. Horn is a veterinarian with a PhD and MBA that worked most of his professional life in the animal health industry, bringing innovation to veterinary medicine. Dr. Horn worked in various roles for Novartis, Elanco, and was Chief Product Development Officer at NexVet, and is now leading a new animal health company. Welcome onto The People of Animal Health Podcast, and how are you Dr. Horn?

Dr. Juergen Horn:
I’m very good, thank you. And thank you for having me.

Stacy Pursell:
Well, we’re so glad too, to have you here, Dr. Horn. And I know that you’ve had tremendous success at this point in your career. I’d like to start off at the bottom, in the very beginning of your career, what was your life like growing up? And where did you grow up?

Dr. Juergen Horn:
That’s quite a while ago. I grew up in a small town in Bavaria, in Germany, about 130 miles east of Munich, a town called Passau. And it’s directly at the border to Austria, very pretty, 50,000 people, town. Also, a little bit remote, especially at the time, it was still time of the Cold War, so the iron curtain to Czechoslovakia was about 40 minutes away. So it was quite a protected upbringing. We had good public schools and all over it was pretty uneventful, but a good childhood, I guess, and upbringing I can say.

Stacy Pursell:
Well, when did you first figure out what you wanted to do professionally?

Dr. Juergen Horn:
Yeah, that was pretty early in my teenage years. I was interested in biology at school. And for some reason, I decided that I wanted to become a veterinarian. I thought quite a lot about, many times what actually triggered that. And I honestly don’t know. My family had nothing to do with agriculture or veterinary medicine. I had a distant relative who was a countryside that in Germany and after I, I came up with this idea that becoming a vet was what I wanted to do. He actually challenged that and took me out for a week. And he did carvings middle of the night. He also did need inspection and things like that. So not only the glamorous kind of things of being a veterinarian in practice, but I still liked it. And it kind of confirmed my plan to become a veterinarian and that really didn’t change until I finished school and managed to get into that school in Munich. And that’s how it all started.

Stacy Pursell:
Wow, And then how did you go from there and get into the animal health industry?

Dr. Juergen Horn:
Well, I studied in Munich, but I did my fourth year at the university of Sydney, in Australia. I was a rotary ambassadorial scholar. I sort of had the urge to see something, some parts of the world, and rather than backpacking, I wanted to do that. And in the context of my degree and study in a different place, I also saw practice in different countries. I spent some time in a small animal clinic, in Spartanburg, in South Carolina and here in the US and then in Windsor, in the UK, which was very exciting because the practice that I worked in, they took care of the Royal dairy farm and also some of the, the horse racing courses there. So this was a very good experience in seeing the, or experiencing the life as a veterinarian in the UK, in England, which is still a little bit of a, almost like a novel people know [inaudible 00:04:59] , I guess.

Dr. Juergen Horn:
So it was a little bit like that in many ways. So that was a good experience. And then I had practice after I got my degree, a practice, a little bit in Germany and a small animal and horse practice, and then decided to do PhD. And that brought me to the Royal veterinary college in London. So back to the UK where I worked at the RVC and the Equine hospital. And as a part-time vet, I locum med, I’m not sure whether that’s an American word, actually. So, I part-time filled in for vets on vacation basically. In the south of England, which was a good experience. And initially I wanted to keep going down that track and become a mixed practice countryside vet, but after that spent so much time in different countries, that being at one location for the rest of my life, or running a veterinary clinic appealed less and less to me. And I became more interested in new treatment options and the science behind the treatment options. And I realized that I enjoyed working in an international environment. So towards the end of my PhD, I was approached about a role in technical marketing at Novartis Animal Health in Switzerland. And I saw that as an opportunity to combine by veterinary expertise with the science training that I had with a PhD and my interest in innovation and international work in this role. So I decided to take up that offer.

Stacy Pursell:
Wow, that’s so interesting. I’m curious, when did you feel like you were first truly beginning to gain traction with your career?

Dr. Juergen Horn:
Yeah, it’s hard to, to pin down a certain moment and time there. In principle, the role at Novartis was a great fit from the get go. It really played to my strengths and I really enjoyed the work. I learned a lot and it pushed me outside of my comfort zone in many ways. And that was a good starting point. And it allowed me to build my skills and get experience in a corporate setting. And then during one of the reorganizations, large companies tend to reorganize on a regular basis. For me, that was new at the time, but it provided an opportunity. It included the creation of global function. And I was given the opportunity to lead a function that was called Technical Services, which came with a very broad area of responsibility spanning from R&D areas to marketing and sales support, pharmacovigilance and what was called product stewardship was for small animals and farm animal products.

Dr. Juergen Horn:
So this was when I really learned the most about the industry as a whole, the different market segments. I traveled to different parts of the world and with the colleagues in the respective countries, I learned about the markets in their areas and their geographies. And it gave me a great opportunity to also build up some management skills. I had a small team in Basel a that directly reported to me, but most of the work was actually with people around the world and the different countries. And they didn’t report directly to me , so it was, as leading by influencing would be the HR term, if you like. And that helped a lot. And I have to also say that the company provided great support in form of executive programs, but also senior management was very supportive at that time.

Dr. Juergen Horn:
And from there everything fell in place and the opportunities’ kind of presented themselves. The next big step was going to the human sides, to the Novartis Institute of Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Novartis had just build up this research and discovery center two years before. And it was a really a fantastic opportunity and experience to look into human direct discovery in this setting, in the middle of places like MIT and Harvard med school and Biotech startup companies, and more established companies. And then Novartis trying to sort of harvest all that. And I think at the year when I was the site there, they hired more than a thousand people, scientists into the organization, so there was a lot of dynamic there that obviously from an animal health company perspective, we hadn’t quite experienced that form. And my job there was to look for innovation, for opportunities of technologies and products to bring into the animal health space. And that was a fantastic opportunity to, to learn about both sides, new technologies and experience what’s going on the human side.

Stacy Pursell:
Wow. You’ve had so many interesting experiences and opportunities in your career so far. I’m curious, what has been the most surprising thing to you during your career in the animal health industry up to this point?

Dr. Juergen Horn:
Yeah, I guess one thing that surprised me from beginning, and also was some reason for the frustration, was how long things take to transfer from one area to the other. And when we look at Bio therapeutics, that’s a perfect example. It’s more than 30 years from the launch of the first monoclonal antibody in humans to when Cytopoint hit the markets. And that I felt was always a little bit frustrating for me that it doesn’t go faster, that there is no more, that the openness to take risks was a bit limited in those days in animal health. And there were hurdles to do that. So, that was a surprising to me, especially coming from academia, doing my PhD and being in private practice, you see these companies as big and powerful and lots of resources. And yet, there is this hurdle to innovate. And that really surprised me from the very first years that I worked in the industry , that we couldn’t be more agile, more innovative, really.

Stacy Pursell:
Yes, because it sounds like in order to be agile and innovative there also has to be an element of speed in there, I understand some of the regulatory stuff and that sort of thing, but it seems like a paradox you’re trying to be innovative and things are not moving fast enough. I’m also curious how have you seen the industry change over the years?

Dr. Juergen Horn:
Yes, it’s changed dramatically, especially in the last five to ten years and it keeps changing rapidly in more ways that we can even cover in our interview here. I think that the spin-out of sweet is really kickstart a new area in animal health that wasn’t only marked by consolidation. I think that was a little bit the fear around the industry for a long time that there will be too much consolidation at the top, but I think what’s also happened. It made room for more innovation and more smaller companies starting up, and it also triggered more interest from investors, from the investment community. And that together created an environment that not only allows innovation, actually it requires innovation to further growth. And this created an environment in the industry that made it much more dynamic. And I think we only seen the beginning of that. So the industry has changed dramatically since I started in 2001, and I think it will continue to change. And not only the animal health industry, [inaudible 00:13:46] farming industry or everything seems to be in flux at the moment, which will lead to further changes.

Stacy Pursell:
Yes, and I’d like to get your thoughts on, on the future of the industry too. What does your crystal ball say about the future of the animal health industry?

Dr. Juergen Horn:
Well, I don’t have a crystal ball, but I don’t actually think you need a crystal ball to see the trends at the moment. They’re quite strong. I think the growth will be driven by the marn of demand in form of the animal protein food side and for farm animals and pet owners’ expectation for veterinary care and treatment options. And I think we are experiencing the beginning of a boom in animal health and the broader industry. And that is based on innovation and when I say innovation I don’t mean only new drugs. I mean, all forms of innovation, digital innovation, insurance companies, how veterinarians adapted to the pandemic now. I think there’s a lot of innovation in all of this. Distribution is changing and so on. So I think the changes are impacting many aspects of animal health and the trends are quite strong. And as I said, I don’t think you need to be a magician or have a crystal ball to see the future in which we are going, but it will be a bit harder to answer what exactly will happen and what segment and what time, that maybe is more something for a crystal ball.

Stacy Pursell:
Well, that all makes sense. And it sounds like you’re optimistic about the future of the industry, which is, its good to hear that I’d love for you to share with our listeners about the kinds of projects that you’re up to today.

Dr. Juergen Horn:
Yeah. So I’m the founder and the CEO of an animal health biotech company called Invetx. Our business model is based on partnerships with best in class human biotech companies that offer a unique and advanced technologies that are specifically suited to discover and generate Biotherapeutics for veterinary medicine. So we built a small, but very experienced in-house team in all relevant areas. And we partnered the other components. So our approach has been to combine expertise from the human biotech and pharma side and the animal health side. And this approach allows us to access the most advanced technologies, for both drug discovery and product development and manufacturing, but the work is done by the actual experts. It allows us to be lean and very capital efficient as our funds go directly into the drug programs rather than infrastructure and equipment. And this approach has enabled us to build a powerful discovery and development platform. And after only two years, a robust drug pipeline with roughly two programs within roughly two years and multiple programs in or about to enter the pilot POC phase this year. So it’s very exciting. And another challenge for me personally, in the role as a CEO.

Stacy Pursell:
Yes, you’re right there in the middle of that innovation. And that’s so exciting to hear about that. I’m fascinated in general, in life about how some people are, they’re so successful, other people can’t seem to find their way to success. You have had a tremendous success in your career. I’m curious about some of your daily habits that you believe have allowed you to achieve the success that you’ve had.

Dr. Juergen Horn:
Like most other people, I guess I’m actually not, I’m not very organized and I don’t have these daily routines that you hear from other CEOs or people that have articles in business magazines. So I don’t do a 10 mile run every morning and I don’t do yoga or anything like that. I don’t necessarily have fixed daily habits. I think my days are very flexible, especially now with all the time in the home office, no travel, no in-person meetings, no commute. I really actually enjoy a somewhat unstructured day. And maybe that’s it, I really don’t need daily habits or a structured day to be productive. I enjoy to be a little bit looser. Some of my coworkers and family will probably say that’s not always optimal. And I recognize that there is some certain organization you need to have and timelines and so on. I can do that of course, but I don’t have a secret routine or habit that would be the foundation of a successful career.

Stacy Pursell:
Well, it sounds like it’s working very well for you. I’m curious. What time do you typically wake up in the morning? And is there anything that you do in the morning? I know you said unstructured, don’t have a typical routine, but what time do you wake up and how do you organize the first few hours of your day?

Dr. Juergen Horn:
Yeah, the mornings, I mean, they start around six o’clock and my routine really of all surrounds being with my family and getting our three children to school on time. And once that’s done and I typically start work around 8:00, 8:30. Obviously there are exceptions where I need to go on a call really early or stay on the phone really late. But in principle, that’s sort of the starting time around eight o’clock. And I do go through a to-do list for the day. So that is a routine and I guess that’s some structure to the day, what I need to complete on a given day or in a given week. And that’s how I start my work. And then I hopefully have a few hours to dedicate to actually thinking and working through certain issues or plans before the first call start with the team or collaborators and so on. So that’s how my day starts typically.

Stacy Pursell:
Well, I’m curious, most successful people have, or many of them have a mentor who’s made a big impact on their career. Do you have a mentor, and if so, what mentor has made the biggest impact on your career so far?

Dr. Juergen Horn:
Yeah, I don’t think there is one particular person, but it’s more like a handful of people that had a big impact. And that includes former colleagues, family and friends, and as much as, as people that I worked with or were in senior management roles, like George Gunn, the former head of Novartis Animal Health, who obviously provided support and opportunities for me during my time at Novartis, and always had good advice over the years. So if I had to name one person that had big impact throughout my career, I guess George would be the one, but I usually try to find people that can give me feedback, especially when I get into a new role, I try to get sort of an informal coach to get some guidance in the areas that I’m not so familiar with and to get some frank feedback.

Dr. Juergen Horn:
And I’ve, I found that very helpful to reflect on things. And I’m not shy to ask questions in areas that I’m not so experienced in. And this has been true. I think throughout the different roles I had, I moved into different roles in different areas. We’ve always moved me a little bit out of the comfort zone, which is a good thing I think. And that’s true today with the CEO role. There are certain aspects that are new to me, and I’m very willing to listen to people that have that experience and have done it before. So I think that’s important. And I can only recommend that no matter how senior you are, or versed you think you are in a certain role, get somebody who is somewhat independent and can give you feedback.

Stacy Pursell:
Yes. That’s good advice. I’ve noticed that successful people are often resilient people. What has been the biggest adversity that you’ve had to fight through during your career?

Dr. Juergen Horn:
Yeah, I think for me personally, the most difficult times were where big changes happened. And if you in a management position, that’s always difficult, it’s difficult for everybody, but leading a team through a reorganization or MNA situation, it is tough, and it is very emotional. You sometimes don’t necessarily know what’s going on in all details. And you can see the anxiety of everybody in the organization and to be able to kind of stay calm, stay course and give some sort of guidance and direction to the people that you work with, and receiving the same from other people you work with is I think very important. And I felt this was probably, these are probably the most difficult times that I experienced in my career when everything seems to tick along.

Dr. Juergen Horn:
And then there’s this big change and it throws out everything up in the air. And this is happening on a regular basis. If you decide to go into industry, you need to be prepared to weather that storm and work through that. But for me personally, to do that, to lead a group of people or a part of the organizations through these changes that I think is, I personally found that the most challenging and draining in many ways.

Stacy Pursell:
Well, that makes sense. Juergen, what advice would you give the younger version of yourself?

Dr. Juergen Horn:
I think don’t try to be something that you’re not, find an area, a profession, or a work or something that you enjoy doing, and where you’re good at. Focus on your strengths and apply them to do a good job. I think when you deliver good work, when you’re engaged and committed that will create opportunities. And you need to seize those and not be afraid of change or taking risks when these opportunities come up. I think that’s certainly what, reflecting back on each step. I think that when I tried to do that, that was the, it usually led down the right path, even though it wasn’t fully planned out beforehand.

Stacy Pursell:
That’s really good advice. We find that most successful people tend to have idiosyncrasies that are actually their super powers. What idiosyncrasy do you have?

Dr. Juergen Horn:
Yeah, I don’t know. Maybe you need to ask the people around me what that would be. I’m sure my teenage son would be able to list a few of these quirky habits. I don’t know. I can’t actually, I don’t have one habit that I think would be a superpower, quite frankly.

Stacy Pursell:
Well, what message or principle do you wish you could teach everyone?

Dr. Juergen Horn:
Well, be open to other people, to other cultures, ideas. I think that works in his general life, but also at work, it’s quite important that I think you keep an open mind and that not only go down a certain path. Whatever happens, try to make the best out of it and stay positive. I think that’s, may not work for everybody, but I can say for me, I didn’t always succeed in that, but I think that will be something that leads to a positive outcome, I think.

Stacy Pursell:
That’s a good outlook. Some people say they’ve had a key book that they’ve read that helped them to change their mindset or their approach to success. Do you have a key book in your life that has impacted you the most? I’d love to hear about it.

Dr. Juergen Horn:
Yeah, the book that impressed me is the one that’s called ‘What Got You Here Won’t Get You There’ by Marshall Goldsmith. I actually had the pleasure to meet Mr. Goldsmith and listen to one of his presentations. It’s very entertaining. I think the title says it all, what gets you to a certain position, what makes you good in one role doesn’t necessarily make you good in the other one. In fact, sometimes the opposite is the case, and there are many examples. I think the best is a good example is when you’re sort of a scientist and really into data and details and whatnot, and then you get promoted to a more managerial role. The detail orientation and the focus on the science alone won’t really help you in your new managerial role.

Dr. Juergen Horn:
And I think that’s one aspect from that book that sort of formalized that thinking that you need to adapt to the new role and it needs new skills, and that you need to not do it all alone and win every battle, but that you have to build a team that is functional and that you have a responsibility to make that functional. And I think that was a good insight and the way he presented it, made it stuck in my head for many years.

Stacy Pursell:
That is some good insight. Are there other books that you believe that our listeners should read?

Dr. Juergen Horn:
Yeah, I don’t know. I like to read mainly for pleasure, besides what I have to read for work and publications and things like that. You know I’m not sure I’m the best to give a readers list. I, yeah, no, not really.

Stacy Pursell:
Well, you’ve got the mic. What is one thing that you’d like to share with our listeners of The People Of Animal Health Podcast before you drop the mic today?

Dr. Juergen Horn:
Yeah. Well, first of all, thank you again for having me and for listening to my story. I think these are very exciting times to be in animal health. There’s lot happening, and we should take the opportunity and lead the change, be open, innovative, and make the best of it. I think it’s a good place to be, and we can make a difference. And whether that’s for pets and their owners, or addressing the issues around farm animals. I think it’s exciting times. Thank you.

Stacy Pursell:
And you’ve certainly had the opportunity to make a difference and are continuing to do that for our industry. And we’re very grateful. And thank you so much for being here on The People Of Animal Health podcast today.