Steve Andrzejewski
CEO
Spiritus Pharmaceuticals
Steve Andrzejewski is the CEO of Spiritus Pharmaceuticals, a company he co-founded focused on respiratory medicines. He is also an Adjunct Professor for the MBA Program, Health Economics for the NYU Stern School of Business, where he teaches about healthcare policy/reform, international healthcare systems, hospital systems, ACOs, pharmaceuticals, payers and physician groups.
Steve’s experience in pharmaceuticals spans 30 years including roles as the CEO of Nycomed, Inc., a US dermatology specialty business; Chief Commercial Officer at King Pharmaceuticals; Senior Vice President of Commercial Business at Endo Pharmaceuticals; and numerous roles at Schering-Plough. While at Schering-Plough, he began in sales and managed care before transitioning to several roles in marketing. In the marketing department, he worked his way up from Product Manager to a number of Vice President positions, having been responsible for allergy, respiratory, dermatology, anti-infective, and CNS businesses.
He pioneered industry focus on DTC strategic brand marketing, being the first to advertise Rx products through DTC methods. He is credited for his work in launching and building the Claritin brand and its DTC advertising when he served as a Senior Director. The landmark campaign, along with a few other high-profile medications, helped re-write the rules for Rx promotions. During his time as Vice President, Marketing, he created and implemented comprehensive consumer marketing strategies with non-branded and soft branding communications, brand identifications, and sports sponsorships – including arranging for Claritin to be the “official allergy medication of Major League Baseball.” He was also an industry leader in internet marketing by creating the Claritin website and enabling consumers to purchase refills online.
Steve graduated with a bachelor’s degree Cum Laude from Hamilton College. He earned his MBA from New York University.
The DTC Hall of Fame is designed to recognize industry members who have made significant contributions to innovate and progress DTC / consumer communications. Industry-wide nominations are collected and then the final four inductees are determined by DTC Perspectives and our Advisory Board, a select group of industry experts who serve as counsel. Inductees can be from any sector of the DTC Industry: Pharmaceutical Manufacturer, Agency, Media Channel, DTC Service Provider, Government, Academia, etc. Nominees should have a minimum of 5-10 years’ experience in healthcare marketing to be considered eligible. Given the newness of the field, it is not necessary to be retired to be eligible. As part of the DTC National, the DTC Hall of Fame festivities include a cocktail party followed by a formal induction ceremony on April 5th presented by Outcome Health, formerly ContextMedia:Health, with video tributes and live introductions from industry leaders, as well as an address by the Hall of Fame inductees. Each inductee is also profiled in the annual issue of DTC Perspectives Magazine.