For much of her adult life, a single mother called Paula has lived with Parkinson’s disease. Now in her late 40s, she’s endured debilitating muscle rigidity and fatigue for decades. The kind of symptoms that mean leaving the house requires meticulous planning.

But Paula got lucky. She gained access to an innovative medicine through a clinical trial. And that treatment changed her life.

“I had coffee with Paula a couple of weeks ago, and she was talking to me about the music festivals that she’s going to. She’s dating again, she’s writing a book. She’s advocating for others with Parkinson’s,” says Nathalie McNeil. 

McNeil is the Vice President and General Manager of AbbVie Australia and New Zealand, a global, research-based biopharmaceutical company developing innovative treatments for complex health conditions -including Parkinson’s disease. 

Speaking at the FW Leadership Summit, the former pharmacist shared that Australia was the 34th country to make the life-changing medicine from Paula’s clinical trial accessible through its Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). 

“And for someone living with a progressive condition, being 34th is not just a statistic. It represents years, time, uncertainty. Those years cannot be reclaimed,” says McNeil.

Nathalie McNeil at the FW Leadership Summit, Sydney

“For patients like Paula, scientific progress and innovation only matters if the systems keep pace.” 

Starting her career during the 90s, at a small chemist in Sydney’s Milsons Point, McNeil says she quickly realised that medicine wasn’t just science and chemistry – her favourite subjects at school. Medicine is how scientific discoveries meet real, human lives.

“Behind that medicine were years – sometimes decades – of research, risk and persistence from extraordinary scientists. But standing in front of me at that pharmacy counter was a person waiting to see if that medicine just might change their life,” she says.

“That person wasn’t just holding on to a prescription. They were holding on to hope. They feared many things – uncertainty, grappling with questions. Sometimes it might be a parent standing with their child. Sometimes it was someone newly diagnosed and still processing what their doctor had just told them. Sometimes, it was someone who had completely run out of options and they were hoping that, just maybe, this medicine might do something different.”

Thirty years later, at the helm of a global biopharmaceutical company, McNeil says that in the era of artificial intelligence, medical innovation is moving at speed.

“AI is accelerating molecular development like you would not believe. We’re seeing breakthroughs in cancer, autoimmune diseases and rare conditions that are transforming patients’ lives. But the systems responsible for delivering those medicines haven’t evolved at the same pace.” 

McNeil explains that, in Australia, a medicine might be deemed safe and effective – but that doesn’t automatically mean people can access it. First, it has to be assessed for inclusion on the PBS — a scheme built in 1948 on the idea that Australians should get the medicines they need, when they need them. 

“Between 2016 and 2021, over 300 new innovative medicines were launched all around the world. Yet only one in four made it onto the PBS. One in four. That means that Australians are missing out.”

”The science of medicine has advanced dramatically since then, yet the PBS responsible for delivering these breakthroughs has not evolved at the same pace,” says McNeil.

“In fact, between 2016 and 2021, over 300 new innovative medicines were launched globally, all around the world. Yet only one in four made it onto the PBS. One in four. And that means that Australians are missing out.”

McNeil isn’t the only one who understands what’s at stake. 

Later in the Summit, she shared the stage with FW Deputy Managing Director Jamila Rizvi – a brain-tumour survivor who relies on daily medications. Rizvi points out that the issue of limited access to treatments “affects women more”. 

“Women live longer but, often, do not live as well during that period,” she says. “We are more likely to be experiencing chronic ill health and more likely to be caring for someone in our life who is sick or disabled… This is very much a question of gender equality.”

Part of the problem, according to McNeil, is that until people experience the need for it first-hand, groundbreaking medicines can be viewed as a cost, rather than investment. But they are, indisputably, an investment. 

A recent report from The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre found that chronic diseases cause 90 percent of preventable deaths and have major economic consequences. By 2030, these conditions will account for $67 billion in lost workforce participation. 

“We all know that health enables participation, independence and contribution,” says  McNeil. “In a room like this, where the theme is evolving your career, we understand what it means to grow, to step into greater responsibility and to have impact. And our health system must do the same.”

McNeil leaves the Summit with a request that could change the story for countless people and families navigating health challenges – now and into the future. 

“If you or anyone you love is diagnosed with a condition, ask, what is the best treatment? Is it available to me here in Australia? And if not, why not?” she says. 

“If you advocate for yourselves and your families, that really helps us when we’re talking to the folks in Canberra about policy changes and reform. The more of you that do that, the louder our voices get, collectively.”