Evie Yulin : Team effort the right prescription for change.

Byline: Sudibyo M. Wiradji, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The young Evie Yulin wanted to help others. She considered becoming a doctor, but her fear of blood prevented her from pursuing medicine. After graduating from high school, she opted for the next best thing -- pharmacy -- as her field of study.

It is only through working in a pharmaceutical company that she has come to understand the dynamics of the industry -- the aspects that excite her and keeps her involved.

"Drugs and diseases have to run after one another. Sometimes a disease runs faster than a drug and sometimes the drugs lag behind. For example, when an antibiotic is not in use at the right time, or is not developed well, then it won't be functional and almost all bacteria can become resistant to it," said Evie, who heads Merck Serono, a pharmacy unit of PT Merck Indonesia.

"The dynamics have made me increasingly interested in health, medical treatment and drug development. One of the rapid developments in pharmacy is biotechnology [biotech] products, such as products for cancer and fertility treatment."

Evie, 44, has been in the pharmaceutical industry for almost 20 years and has held several managerial positions at multinational …