Validus Pharma

Validus is focused on acquiring, reformulating, and marketing prescription products in specialty therapeutic areas. Their business model is based on the acquisition of established products that are FDA-approved and satisfy unmet clinical needs.

When the company was, itself, acquired in 2023 by Rubicon Research, we couldn’t help but reflect with a smile on our eighteen-year client/agency partnership with Validus. Our longest-running client relationship, ever.

Through the years as their as digital agency of record, even with several leadership team transitions over time, there were always certain constants that made our relationship tick:

• CLEAR COMMUNICATION
  • As partners we were always transparent, open, and honest with each other. Our regular cadence updates, feedback, and urgency addressing concerns whenever they arose prevented small issues from growing. We provided Validus with formal reports regularly, and we know they always felt informed and reassured about the progress and value they were receiving.

• ALIGNED GOALS & VALUES
  • Our client-agency relationship with Validus was probably bound to last as long as it did, because both parties were always working toward the same overarching goals. Increasing revenue. Boosting brand awareness. Relaunching long-forgotten, off-patent pharmaceutical products and applying them in new ways. Because we had values like these in common, our work together always felt more like a partnership and less like a transactional arrangement.

• A PROACTIVE APPROACH
  • As we do with all our clients, we always worked hard to be steps ahead of Validus’ needs, even before an explicit “ask”. For example, foreseeing potential regulatory issues with a particular site functionality request, and offering a creative alternative solution immediately (instead of wasting time cycling). We learned long ago that you earn a place as a long-term agency partner not by just executing a client’s instructions, but by offering fresh ideas that help them stay ahead of competitors, tap into new opportunities, and avoid potential pitfalls.

• CONSISTENT QUALITY & PERFORMANCE
  • Our reputation for high-quality work, on time and within budget at Validus was well-established. So even when major leadership team changes occurred over the years, we were always a reliable constant for the company. Sure, we had lots of institutional knowledge that we acquired over a period of years that made it an easy choice to stay with us for simplicity’s sake. But we think more important than that, was the attention we paid to our agency-ROI as Validus saw it. Management team after successive management team, they always knew we were always working to move the needle for them.

Taking time to celebrate wins together isn’t something every agency gets to do with every client, but that was a hallmark of our time with Validus. When you’re able as a service provider like us to help your client avoid regulatory missteps, relaunch a forgotten brand and make it successful again even in its second, post-patent life, it matters.

In our business, success should always be a shared experience. Celebrating important moments of accomplishment together strengthened our Validus partnership and built goodwill that lasted way longer than most of us would have ever thought at the beginning.