Roberto Musneci, from GSK to A&D Pharma

Roberto Musneci, the Italian who ran the biggest player on the Romanian drug market, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), between 2001-2006 and who has recently accepted a non-executive position at A&D Pharma, speaks about the advantages the entrepreneur status brings in an interview with ZF.
From the position he held at GSK, Musneci coordinated activities in 13 countries, namely an area that brought the British group 400m-euro turnover and included 1,600 employees.
He gave up a comfortable seat in one of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies and entered the world of consulting services to pursue institutional communication.
Recently, however, Musneci has added a new position to his CV; that of a non-executive manager at A&D Pharma, the market leader on the distribution and retail segment. “(…) As a rule, a non-executive manager’s task is to control minority shareholders’ interests from the outside and independently. It’s an important position because you guarantee for those shareholders who are not directly involved in the company,” says Musneci.
Though he has had offers to continue to work with a multinational, Musneci says he is not tempted to go back to management, preferring the entrepreneur status. “Though I had a very good position, it was not my personal investment. Firstly, I wanted to make this shift from management to entrepreneurship and secondly I’ve seen Romania, amid growth registered in recent years, can offer plenty of opportunities in the field of consulting services,” says Musneci. On the other hand, work in a multinational has changed a lot in recent years.
The mandate in Romania allowed him to meet his current business partner, Alex Serban, together with whom he holds Serban & Musneci Associates company. According to Finance Ministry data, the firm last year generated 0.4m-euro turnover and net income of almost 30,000 euros. The firm’s customers have included Vodafone, Lafarge, Danone, Rompetrol, Nokia, GSK, A&D Pharma.
In addition to growth opportunities Musneci says, “Romania has a still weak economic structure. The fact that the market is not as developed as others offers a kind of shelter”. In the past two years, the team of Serban & Musneci Associates has grown from 4-5 people to 20 people. And Musneci says the development of this business remains his priority.