Pet cause | Science and Technology: Jean Hoffman, President, Putney Inc.
Photo/David A. Rodgers
Jean Hoffman, president of Putney Inc. in Portland, had spent years in the international pharmaceutical industry before founding Putney Inc. in 2006 to manufacture generic drugs for pets
What does a woman do for an encore after she, fresh out of college, cobbles together a development deal in the early ‘80s in China, then builds her own data forecasting company, which she sells for millions? She builds another company.
Jean Hoffman, founder and president of Putney Inc., likes to build things. She likes animals equally well and combined the two passions to found a pharmaceutical company that develops generic drugs for pets. Started in 2006, Putney is on pace to record $100 million in revenues before 2013, with projections to double revenues this year and next, says Hoffman.
“I’ve always been an animal and plant lover,” she says from her downtown Portland office where a panoply of photos of pets, children and gardens frames her desk. “I spent most of my career in international generic drug industries where I identified profitable niches. After I sold (my first company) I had a goal to get back into the industry and develop a business focused on profitable niche products myself … I had lots of ideas and veterinary generic drugs was one of them.”
Her first company, Newport Strategies, specialized in collecting and analyzing data for the pharmaceutical industry using algorithms that identified research and market trends. She used her knowledge of the industry to research generic pet medications and found inefficiencies: patents that had expired; poorly formulated medications; bad packaging.
That meant opportunity. Hoffman sought partners to develop and manufacture veterinary drugs within the human generic industry, efficient companies that had already invested heavily in meeting federal Food and Drug Administration’s requirements. The partnerships allow Putney flexibility to meet client demand.
“Most R&D is centered around the capabilities a company has,” says Hoffman. “With Putney, because we don’t own our own internal R&D or manufacturing facilities, we’re free to do R&D backwards, based on what our customers need, not what we think we can produce.”
Putney sells solely to veterinarians but is regulated by the FDA as if it were developing drugs for human use. To meet the FDA’s exacting standards, Putney only develops its products with manufacturers of human drugs to ensure quality standards. In fact, when a supplier ran afoul of the FDA last year, Hoffman’s extensive contacts within the pharmaceutical industry produced an alternate manufacturer in Austria within a couple of months, ensuring a steady supply of product to Putney’s clients. “We spend a lot of energy listening to vets, on their prescription patterns, medical expenditures and so on,” she says, noting that the company just hired its first veterinarian on staff. “We analyze that against a deep understanding of the markets and on what drives pricing.”
Hoffman says part of the reason for the growth of this year’s revenues is the sour economy, which motivates everyone to save money. One popular Putney generic is priced 25% below the brand name equivalent before it goes to distributors.
“Our clients are very focused on helping pet owners, and so this economy has been very helpful for us,” she says.
Hoffman, 52, serves on several national boards connected to the generic drug industry, where she’s been a respected voice for many years. She acknowledges her professional life is demanding, but takes care to balance it with time spent at her Peak’s Island home with her two children, two cats and gardens.
Balance is key, whether juggling work and home, or risk and reward.
“It’s always been about hard work, ethics, relationships and understanding risk,” she says of her career. “I don’t consider failure an option. You can only succeed if you make mistakes and learn from them.”
Carol Coultas
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