Peter Gerckens, CEO at PharmaSGP combines a strong background in consulting, branding, and consumer healthcare with an entrepreneurial approach to pharmaceutical growth. He emphasizes data-driven decision-making, small, agile teams, and in-house capabilities as key differentiators. With Germany as its core market, PharmaSGP is pursuing continued product innovation, international expansion, and strategic acquisitions to build a leading European consumer healthcare group.
Could you introduce yourself to our international audience and share the professional journey that led you to your current role at PharmaSGP?
I started my career at Procter & Gamble, which I still view as one of the best marketing and branding grounds in the industry, and then moved to McKinsey Company in Munich. I spend there 6 years with a break between for my MBA at Harvard. During my time in consulting, my focus was primarily on healthcare and consumer goods.
After McKinsey I led a B2B media firm in Germany for a few years before I joined PharmaSGP’s executive board. I think it aligned well with my professional background, combining data-driven analytics, agile project leadership, and media strategy.
For those less familiar with PharmaSGP, could you provide an overview of the organisation, its history, and its position in the market?
PharmaSGP is a relatively young consumer healthcare company, founded approximately 15 years ago. We initially focused on non-prescription over-the-counter drugs within the natural health space, often in areas where patients, mostly suffering from chronic diseases, were underserved. We developed treatments and brands and introduced them to German pharmacies, which remain our main distribution channel.
Approximately four years ago, we expanded our portfolio significantly by acquiring four established heritage brands from GSK: strengthening our position across the consumer healthcare market. Following our public listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, we have maintained a strategy of continuous innovation, launching new umbrella brands and entering underserved therapeutic areas.
Today, we focus on five to six core indication areas, spanning nerve pain, joint pain, sleep, male sexual health and longevity. Our portfolio combines established consumer healthcare products with newer dietary supplements, including a longevity-focused supplement brand launched approximately two and a half years ago.
Beyond our core portfolio, we maintain 15 to 20 smaller niche brands, operating as a true “house of brands”. We grow these assets through direct-to-consumer marketing and line extensions. We launch five to ten new products annually.
Maintaining that pace of product launches with a team of around 120 employees implies significant operational efficiency. How do you manage that scale?
It requires high operational efficiency. We generate well over one million Euros in revenue per employee because we adhere to a lean, highly centralized operating model.
A core tenet of our strategy is executing all critical functions in-house and working in small teams. Owning these processes internally allows us to maintain agility, speed, and complete alignment across our teams.
PharmaSGP has experienced strong growth in recent years. What fundamental factors have driven this performance?
It is a constant execution effort. Several key fundamentals drive our growth:
First, our approach to talent acquisition is critical. We aim to hire exceptional professionals and empower them with direct responsibility early in their careers.
Second, we are deeply data driven. We monitor marketing campaign performance and product analytics on weekly basis. Rather than committing to multi-year marketing campaigns, we evaluate initiatives continuously. If an initiative underperforms, we pivot immediately. This rapid feedback loop allows us to identify what truly resonates with the consumer.
Finally, we maintain a close connection to customer sentiment. Beyond reviewing internal metrics, our teams analyse consumer feedback and a wide range of digital market data to identify unaddressed patient needs before developing dedicated solutions.
You mentioned that your organizational culture differs from traditional pharmaceutical companies. What specific candidate profile thrives at PharmaSGP?
We have a quite a mix of talents here. Obviously for some functions like regulatory and quality we value pharmaceutical experience highly. However, most employees in our other functions do not come from traditional pharmaceutical backgrounds. We believe that fundamentals such as flexibility, analytical drive, initiative, and a detailed, hands-on mindset are more important than industry experience. Furthermore, we find that candidates who have spent long tenures in large, highly matrixed corporate environments sometimes find it challenging to adapt to our operating model.
For professionals who thrive on ownership and rapid execution, our high-growth environment offers accelerated career development opportunities.
How would you characterize the current macroeconomic environment and the OTC sector in Germany?
Germany is our core market. Broader economic growth in Germany has experienced roughly four years of stagnation. The overall German OTC market is doing a little better than the general economy with growth of around three percent over the past years. This year looks more challenging; I’m not expecting any unit growth on a sector level.
However, the consumer healthcare sector benefits from long-term structural tailwinds, including an ageing population, an increasing preference for self-medication, and consumers taking greater control of their healthcare choices through digital research.
PharmaSGP has achieved over 20 percent over the past two years. This positions us among the fastest-growing players within the top 20 German consumer healthcare companies.
How is PharmaSGP integrating artificial intelligence into its operations?
Like most companies we are currently on a steep learning curve when it comes to maximizing the use of AI. We already implement successful use cases to enhances our ability to process complex datasets and make faster data-driven decisions e.g. in inventory management.
In content creation and media asset generation, AI significantly reduces lead times for digital and print collateral. At the same time, lowering these barriers creates a more crowded digital marketplace, as new entrants can easily launch direct-to-consumer supplement brands.
We believe that our advantage lies in combining commercial agility with rigorous pharmaceutical standards. We maintain a 20-person internal regulatory and quality team, applying the same scientific standards to dietary supplements as we do to regulated OTC drugs. While AI accelerates workflows, it does not replace the fundamental need for high-quality formulations, trusted brand equity, and responsible human oversight.
PharmaSGP was recently recognized as one of Germany’s Top 100 Innovators. What specific elements of your business model led to this recognition?
The evaluation assessed innovation across our organizational structure, business model, and product development.
A major factor was our product innovation pipeline: approximately 20 to 25 percent of our revenue is generated by products launched within the preceding 24 months. Additionally, our approach to digital marketplaces and e-commerce execution within the OTC and consumer health space was highlighted as a key differentiator compared to traditional pharmaceutical models.
Looking ahead, what are your strategic priorities and expansion plans for PharmaSGP across Europe?
Our overarching objective is to build the leading European consumer healthcare group.
While we see continued growth potential in Germany through new product launches and entering unaddressed therapeutic categories, geographic expansion is a core priority. We have achieved strong growth in a few international markets, and are preparing to expand more towards Southern Europe.
We manage our international operations through a centralized model. We maintain a strong in-person office culture in Munich, where our teams are co-located, driving cross-functional alignment.
As you scale, how are you building PharmaSGP’s corporate profile to support talent acquisition?
While growing our healthcare brands remains our primary focus, enhancing our corporate profile is essential for attracting top talent.
For driven, analytically minded professionals, we offer a unique environment. Team members are given direct responsibility, with the ability to execute strategies within months rather than years.
Because high-performing employees attract top-tier talent, maintaining high hiring standards remains critical to supporting our long-term growth trajectory.
As a leader, how do you keep your teams motivated and performing at a high level in today’s fast-moving market?
It comes down to genuine empowerment, mutual respect, and active listening. We set clear expectations and give our teams the autonomy to execute and make decisions.
We maintain a fast-paced environment focused on short-term milestones rather than rigid multi-year plans. This allows us to learn quicker und iterate based on real-world data.
To conclude, what key message would you like to share regarding the German market outlook?
While the current economic climate in Germany presents challenges, the country’s foundational strengths remain robust. Germany possesses an exceptional talent pool, strong infrastructure, and an open, resilient society. I remain very confident in the long-term fundamentals of the market and its ability to emerge stronger
