Sheldon Baker07.01.11
Peter Wojewnik is director of business development at Dicentra, a leading scientific and regulatory consulting firm based in Toronto with specialized expertise in the areas of natural health products, dietary supplements, OTCs, foods and cosmetics. Peter holds an honors Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto with a major in psychology and biology and a master of business administration in international business from Ryerson University. With the help of the Dicentra team, Peter advises hundreds of leading brands on scientific, regulatory and compliance issues and helps these brands to obtain and maintain a competitive position in the marketplace.
Health E-Insights: What is the meaning of Dicentra?
Mr. Wojewnik: When Alicja Wojewnik, our president and founder, decided to start a consulting firm she decided to name the company after her mother’s favorite plant, Dicentra spectabilis, also known as the bleeding heart. The plant produces heart-shaped flowers and was traditionally consumed as a sedative. This proved to be appropriate since Dicentra was really established to help companies in our industry navigate and interpret the challenging regulatory and scientific requirements we all have to face on a day to day basis. We always say “with Dicentra you can relax.”
Health E-Insights: What is your company’s competitive advantage?
Mr. Wojewnik: Dicentra is all about the people. We are all highly educated, committed and creative individuals. Our biggest challenge as a company is to feed our growth with the addition of new team members. It’s not easy finding people that can fulfill delivery on the caliber of service that we provide to our clients. We might interview 10-20 individuals before we find the perfect fit. Currently we have 14 staff members and these include former government officials, PhDs, toxicologists, quality assurance experts and others. Together, we work as a team and we are able to compile our experience and creative thinking to solve our clients’ most challenging issues. The additional advantage is that we all work out of one office. Many consultants operate in a virtual manner and this deteriorates transparency and availability. We are all here every day and it just takes a phone call to reach one of us. It’s guaranteed that we will be able to address your concern or request immediately.
Health E-Insights: Where will the most significant growth occur in the company in the next few years?
Mr. Wojewnik: Since our inception in 2003 the scope of our services has diversified immensely. When we first started in 2003 we were servicing mainly small- and medium-sized businesses and our one activity was helping our clients file natural health product license applications to the natural health products Directorate in Canada (licensing dietary supplements for sale in Canada). Today we service small-, medium- and many large multi-national corporations, and as opposed to just being the go-to-consultant for product filings we have been integrated into the operations of our clients’ businesses. From research and product development to marketing and post-market compliance issues, our clients want us to be a part of their everyday business decision-making. We see this as our ongoing source of future growth. We’re not here just to review a label or license your product. We’re here to help your business accelerate its growth and make sure that they maintain a competitive position in the marketplace. We’ve retained all of our clients over the years and the best source of satisfaction for us has been watching our clients grow with the guidance we provide. Additionally, we are launching GMPtraining.ca (www.gmptraining.ca) in the fall. This will be an online portal where companies can sign up for a one year membership and have unlimited access to an interactive GMP training video to learn everything required by the GMPs. Companies can provide access to all of their employees and any new employees to learn the requirements directly from the comfort of their desk. This eliminates the costly need of traveling to seminars or hiring a consultant to come on-site and deliver a training program. At first we’re starting with a program for Canadian natural health product GMPs but we will quickly expand to offer programs on drugs and FDA cGMPs.
Health E-Insights: How do you help a new client understand the culture of your organization?
Mr. Wojewnik: A client has a sense of our culture from the first point of contact. We reach out immediately to understand the client’s business, their needs and what strategy we can offer to best meet those needs. That’s really what we’re about. We’re here anytime to help right away. They may not feel that they need us right now but as soon as they do we’ll be ready to help as if we were waiting for that company to approach all along. And we get things done. We’re doers, problem solvers and obstacle avoiders. Our company philosophy is not to just advise our clients on what they can’t do, but on what they can do instead to avoid compliance issues and stay ahead of the curve. If there is any uncertainty in our abilities I always welcome a potential client to just ask around. Talk to your industry colleagues. There’s a good chance many of them have had some sort of experience with Dicentra, and we’re confident that they have something positive to say. Another reflection of our culture is the free regulatory update webinars (https://www.dicentra.ca/updates/) we offer to the industry every annual quarter. We prepare a 30-60 minute webinar delivered live every three months to cover all of the important regulatory and scientific issues pertaining to natural health products and dietary supplements, foods and cosmetics. I’m pretty sure we’re still the only firm that offers this. We do this for two reasons. One is because it’s a great tool to expose ourselves to the industry. Most importantly, however, it reflects our true intention to be a trusted source of information and guidance in our industry. Our entire team works hard to be a true helping hand for every one of our clients and for every member of our industry. We want this industry to grow for the betterment of Dicentra, the industry itself and for the benefit of the consumer. This is also reflected by our participation on committee, association and government advisory panels.
Health E-Insights: Any pending Canadian legislation that could impact your company?
Mr. Wojewnik: For the time being a company selling a natural health product in Canada can get away with selling the product with just a submission number (a number that’s received once the government acknowledges receipt of your product license application). According to the legal requirements you need a product license to sell, but due to a significant backlog of applications at Health Canada the government has stated that they will not focus enforcement measures on products with a submission number (as long as the product is not considered high-risk). This is temporary. At some point in the future Health Canada is expected to make an announcement on the implementation of a new Compliance and Enforcement Policy where a submission number will no longer be enough and you will be a target for enforcement unless your product is fully assessed and licensed (or has at least an exemption number, which is a temporary license issued if the product application has not yet been fully assessed after 180 days in queue). This will be a turning point for the Canadian industry. Performance standards will be in place at Health Canada and placing a product on the Canadian market will require far-forward thinking. R&D, marketing and sales departments will have to alter their approach and fully conform to our regulatory requirements in order to maintain a secure position on the marketplace. It’s anyone’s guess when Health Canada will implement this new policy, but we’re all waiting and preparing for that day to come.
Health E-Insights: What’s your favorite weekend activity?
Mr. Wojewnik: My family has a small rustic cabin about 120 miles north of Toronto. Going up there with family, friends and the dogs is by far the best thing to do. Living in downtown Toronto requires a weekend getaway in order to maintain some level of sanity.
Health E-Insights:What is the last book you read?
Mr. Wojewnik:I spend most of my reading time on newspapers and current affairs. I did, however, recently read George Bush’s memoir Decision Points. I really wanted to uncover what Bush had to say about his years as President. So many things fell apart during his term and I was curious to see what kind of explanation he could provide. I don’t like commenting on politics but after reading the memoir I gained at least some additional respect for Mr. Bush. Mistakes were evidently made, but he did the best he could with the challenges that faced him and although we are all in a tough place at the moment I think some of us can agree that we’re in a safer place now than we were as a result of some of Mr. Bush’s initiatives. I didn’t take everything at face value, but it was a good read.
Sheldon Baker wants to interview you. For more information contact Sheldon at sbaker@bakerdillon.com. And visit his website at www.bakerdillon.com and blog at www.NutraInk.com.
Health E-Insights: What is the meaning of Dicentra?
Mr. Wojewnik: When Alicja Wojewnik, our president and founder, decided to start a consulting firm she decided to name the company after her mother’s favorite plant, Dicentra spectabilis, also known as the bleeding heart. The plant produces heart-shaped flowers and was traditionally consumed as a sedative. This proved to be appropriate since Dicentra was really established to help companies in our industry navigate and interpret the challenging regulatory and scientific requirements we all have to face on a day to day basis. We always say “with Dicentra you can relax.”
Health E-Insights: What is your company’s competitive advantage?
Mr. Wojewnik: Dicentra is all about the people. We are all highly educated, committed and creative individuals. Our biggest challenge as a company is to feed our growth with the addition of new team members. It’s not easy finding people that can fulfill delivery on the caliber of service that we provide to our clients. We might interview 10-20 individuals before we find the perfect fit. Currently we have 14 staff members and these include former government officials, PhDs, toxicologists, quality assurance experts and others. Together, we work as a team and we are able to compile our experience and creative thinking to solve our clients’ most challenging issues. The additional advantage is that we all work out of one office. Many consultants operate in a virtual manner and this deteriorates transparency and availability. We are all here every day and it just takes a phone call to reach one of us. It’s guaranteed that we will be able to address your concern or request immediately.
Health E-Insights: Where will the most significant growth occur in the company in the next few years?
Mr. Wojewnik: Since our inception in 2003 the scope of our services has diversified immensely. When we first started in 2003 we were servicing mainly small- and medium-sized businesses and our one activity was helping our clients file natural health product license applications to the natural health products Directorate in Canada (licensing dietary supplements for sale in Canada). Today we service small-, medium- and many large multi-national corporations, and as opposed to just being the go-to-consultant for product filings we have been integrated into the operations of our clients’ businesses. From research and product development to marketing and post-market compliance issues, our clients want us to be a part of their everyday business decision-making. We see this as our ongoing source of future growth. We’re not here just to review a label or license your product. We’re here to help your business accelerate its growth and make sure that they maintain a competitive position in the marketplace. We’ve retained all of our clients over the years and the best source of satisfaction for us has been watching our clients grow with the guidance we provide. Additionally, we are launching GMPtraining.ca (www.gmptraining.ca) in the fall. This will be an online portal where companies can sign up for a one year membership and have unlimited access to an interactive GMP training video to learn everything required by the GMPs. Companies can provide access to all of their employees and any new employees to learn the requirements directly from the comfort of their desk. This eliminates the costly need of traveling to seminars or hiring a consultant to come on-site and deliver a training program. At first we’re starting with a program for Canadian natural health product GMPs but we will quickly expand to offer programs on drugs and FDA cGMPs.
Health E-Insights: How do you help a new client understand the culture of your organization?
Mr. Wojewnik: A client has a sense of our culture from the first point of contact. We reach out immediately to understand the client’s business, their needs and what strategy we can offer to best meet those needs. That’s really what we’re about. We’re here anytime to help right away. They may not feel that they need us right now but as soon as they do we’ll be ready to help as if we were waiting for that company to approach all along. And we get things done. We’re doers, problem solvers and obstacle avoiders. Our company philosophy is not to just advise our clients on what they can’t do, but on what they can do instead to avoid compliance issues and stay ahead of the curve. If there is any uncertainty in our abilities I always welcome a potential client to just ask around. Talk to your industry colleagues. There’s a good chance many of them have had some sort of experience with Dicentra, and we’re confident that they have something positive to say. Another reflection of our culture is the free regulatory update webinars (https://www.dicentra.ca/updates/) we offer to the industry every annual quarter. We prepare a 30-60 minute webinar delivered live every three months to cover all of the important regulatory and scientific issues pertaining to natural health products and dietary supplements, foods and cosmetics. I’m pretty sure we’re still the only firm that offers this. We do this for two reasons. One is because it’s a great tool to expose ourselves to the industry. Most importantly, however, it reflects our true intention to be a trusted source of information and guidance in our industry. Our entire team works hard to be a true helping hand for every one of our clients and for every member of our industry. We want this industry to grow for the betterment of Dicentra, the industry itself and for the benefit of the consumer. This is also reflected by our participation on committee, association and government advisory panels.
Health E-Insights: Any pending Canadian legislation that could impact your company?
Mr. Wojewnik: For the time being a company selling a natural health product in Canada can get away with selling the product with just a submission number (a number that’s received once the government acknowledges receipt of your product license application). According to the legal requirements you need a product license to sell, but due to a significant backlog of applications at Health Canada the government has stated that they will not focus enforcement measures on products with a submission number (as long as the product is not considered high-risk). This is temporary. At some point in the future Health Canada is expected to make an announcement on the implementation of a new Compliance and Enforcement Policy where a submission number will no longer be enough and you will be a target for enforcement unless your product is fully assessed and licensed (or has at least an exemption number, which is a temporary license issued if the product application has not yet been fully assessed after 180 days in queue). This will be a turning point for the Canadian industry. Performance standards will be in place at Health Canada and placing a product on the Canadian market will require far-forward thinking. R&D, marketing and sales departments will have to alter their approach and fully conform to our regulatory requirements in order to maintain a secure position on the marketplace. It’s anyone’s guess when Health Canada will implement this new policy, but we’re all waiting and preparing for that day to come.
Health E-Insights: What’s your favorite weekend activity?
Mr. Wojewnik: My family has a small rustic cabin about 120 miles north of Toronto. Going up there with family, friends and the dogs is by far the best thing to do. Living in downtown Toronto requires a weekend getaway in order to maintain some level of sanity.
Health E-Insights:What is the last book you read?
Mr. Wojewnik:I spend most of my reading time on newspapers and current affairs. I did, however, recently read George Bush’s memoir Decision Points. I really wanted to uncover what Bush had to say about his years as President. So many things fell apart during his term and I was curious to see what kind of explanation he could provide. I don’t like commenting on politics but after reading the memoir I gained at least some additional respect for Mr. Bush. Mistakes were evidently made, but he did the best he could with the challenges that faced him and although we are all in a tough place at the moment I think some of us can agree that we’re in a safer place now than we were as a result of some of Mr. Bush’s initiatives. I didn’t take everything at face value, but it was a good read.
Sheldon Baker wants to interview you. For more information contact Sheldon at sbaker@bakerdillon.com. And visit his website at www.bakerdillon.com and blog at www.NutraInk.com.
