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Indian Pharma Leadership: A Glimpse of Changing Mindset Post Pandemic

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A recent survey of physicians, published by the CMI Media Group, provides fresh evidence that Medical Representatives meetings with the physicians that have become trickier to arrange since COVID-19, still continue. This was also reported in the March 29, 2023, edition of Fierce Pharma.  

The survey objective was to capture what are physicians’ preferences, when asked whether they want to meet with pharmaceutical reps in person more often, less often or in equal frequency as pre-pandemic. Some of the key findings of this recent study include the following: 

  • 25% of the doctors, reportedly said they are reducing face-to-face interactions.
  • With 10% of doctors responding never seeing reps, it could be challenging for many pharma players to call on these doctors via the traditional in-person route. 
  • However, another 51% of physicians replied that the frequency of their in-person interactions is unchanged from pre-pandemic and 14% seeing reps more frequently than before. 
  • It also found that digital channels have potential to compensate for the pullback from in-person meetings.  
  • Most of such doctors prefer receiving resources for talking to reps via video or phone. 
  • Interestingly, 70% and 78% of physicians said digital resources are more convenient, educational and valuable than remote rep visits. 

Let me hasten to add that the above study was carried out mostly in the European countries. Thus, in today’s deliberation, I would focus mainly on two areas:

1. How is this situation evolving in India and the way some of the Indian majors are gearing up to convert this challenge into opportunities to gain a competitive edge, and 

2. What, in my view, needs to be a pharma marketing leadership mindset change, alongside its traits for effective change management, to excel in the changing market dynamics. More importantly, whether or not this trend is also visible within some of the Indian pharma majors.

The comparable situation in India:

I find some interesting data on the Indian pharma industry in this regard, from several public domain. These indicate that while some physicians may be open to virtual interactions with medical representatives during and after the COVID pandemic, there are also examples of physicians who were not too keen to meet with pharma reps. These seem to be for several reasons. Some reported examples are as follows:

  • Delhi Medical Association (DMA), which represents more than 15,000 doctors in the Indian capital, has banned pharma med reps from entering hospitals or meeting with doctors in person. The DMA has cited concerns about the influence of pharma reps on prescribing practices, besides potential conflict of interest.
  • With over 3.5 lakh memberships, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) appears to have discouraged physicians from meeting with MRs. Instead, the association has urged them to rely on evidence-based information and guidelines while prescribing drugs to patients.
  • Some private hospital chains in India have also restricted or banned pharmaceutical sales representatives from interacting with physicians. This includes Fortis Healthcare, which has banned pharma reps from its hospitals in Delhi and Mumbai, and Max Healthcare, which has restricted interactions to virtual meetings only. 
  • The Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) has issued guidelines for its members recommending that they avoid interactions with pharma med reps. The IPS has stated that interactions with pharma reps can create conflicts of interest and bias in prescribing practices and may not always provide accurate and reliable information.
  • Some physicians in India are increasingly turning to online platforms to access unbiased information about medications and treatments, rather than relying on information provided by reps. Online platforms such as Medscape and Docplexus provide physicians with access to up-to-date medical information and peer-reviewed research studies.

With a changing mindset, some Indian players are facing this challenge:

Evidence suggests that there is a growing awareness among several physicians in India about the potential biases and conflicts of interest that can arise from interactions with pharma representatives. While virtual interactions and non-promotional information may still be acceptable to some physicians, others may prefer to rely on more objective sources of information or avoid interactions with pharma reps altogether. 

There are several examples in this area highlighting how some Indian pharma majors are trying to stay ahead of the technology curve. As reported, some specific responses of Indian pharmaceutical companies to the restrictions on interactions with physicians

include, Cipla’s launch of a digital platform called CiplaMed to provide healthcare professionals with access to non-promotional medical information and education.

Post-pandemic changes in the mindset and outlook of marketing leadership:

As I see, the COVID pandemic experience has brought significant changes in the mindset and outlook, especially, in the marketing leadership of several Indian drug companies. One key reason could be the success requirements in contemporary pandemic market dynamics are going through a metamorphosis. Which is why the emerging situation demands new approaches and strategies for success.  

Many pharma marketing leaders are now trying for early identification of even the nuanced change requirements relevant to their respective organizations for sustainable business success in the current paradigm. Some of these requirements were identified as:

Agility and Adaptability: The pandemic has highlighted the importance of being agile and adaptable. Pharma marketing leaders must now be able to quickly pivot their strategies and tactics based on changing market conditions and consumer needs.

For example, Cipla adapted quickly to the changing market conditions during the pandemic by ramping up the production of essential medicines and medical supplies. The company also developed innovative product solutions, such as a portable mechanical ventilator, to address the critical shortage of medical equipment during the pandemic. 

Similarly, Lupin demonstrated agility by diversifying its product portfolio to include COVID-19 testing kits, PPE, and other pandemic-related products, besides helping to develop innovative solutions to address the pandemic, such as a telemedicine platform that enables patients to consult with doctors remotely. 

Digitalization: The pandemic has accelerated the shift towards digitalization in the pharma industry. Marketing leaders must be able to effectively leverage digital channels such as social media, online advertising, and telemedicine to reach and engage with consumers.

For instance, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories leveraged digital technologies to enhance its customer engagement efforts. The company developed a mobile app called - ‘Medznat.’ It is touted as a one-stop solution for physicians, medical students and other healthcare professionals to stay abreast with the latest medical knowledge. It offers an umbrella of offerings, such as news, scientific articles, case studies, regulatory updates, medical events, drug flashcards, and many more. The app offers some key features, such as: personalized quality content, any time, anywhere and patient education materials.

Customer-centricity: The pandemic has increased the need for customer-centricity in the pharma industry. Marketing leaders must now prioritize customer needs and preferences and tailor their marketing strategies accordingly.

Sun Pharma appears to be another leading example that, reportedly, demonstrated customer-centricity by developing patient assistance programs that provide financial support to patients who cannot afford their medications. The company also partnered with healthcare providers to develop disease management programs that improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.

Data Analytics: The pandemic has highlighted the importance of leveraging data science and data analytics in the pharma industry. Marketing leaders must be able to effectively analyze data to understand customer behavior and preferences and to measure the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. 

The name of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals comes to the top of mind in this area. The Company is now using data analytics to analyze sales data and identify trends in the market. The company is also using analytics to track physician interactions and ensure compliance with government regulations.

Continuous Innovation: The pandemic has created new opportunities for innovation in the marketing domain. Thus, marketing leaders must be willing to experiment with new approaches and technologies to stay ahead of the competition and meet changing customer needs.

As is known to many, Zydus Cadila has developed a COVID-19 vaccine and has also been working on the development of a COVID-19 drug. The company has also been involved in the development of new drugs to treat various other diseases.

Collaboration: The pandemic has underscored the need for collaboration across the healthcare ecosystem. Pharma marketing leaders need to work closely with other stakeholders, including healthcare providers, payers, patient advocacy groups, and government agencies, to develop solutions that meet the needs of all stakeholders.

In this area, Biocon, for instance, collaborated with government agencies and NGOs to distribute COVID-19 vaccines and treatments to underserved communities. The company also worked with healthcare providers and patient advocacy groups to develop education and awareness campaigns that promote better health outcomes.

Similarly, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories partnered with IQVIA to rollout IQVIA’s OCE application to its entire field force and marketing users in India to drive more meaningful and impactful customer engagement.

 Conclusion: 

These are a few areas with examples from a few Indian pharma majors that would give a sense of how the mindset and outlook of their marketing leadership teams are changing. This is happening, as is widely believed, after having experienced the last two years’ unprecedented disruptions in business and customer behavior.

It’s equally interesting to note that our domestic drug industry, which was not traditionally well known for effecting significant proactive changes – is transforming itself while stepping into the post-pandemic world – in pursuit of excellence. 

By: Tapan J. Ray        

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.

 

 

Accelerating Footfalls In Less Charted Pharma Marketing Frontiers

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Having experienced unprecedented disruptions, especially in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical business, many global and local drug majors, are rethinking their marketing strategies. These have, no doubt, been prompted by the challenges of change, which are sometimes stark, but more often than not - nuanced.

Many of them are now, therefore, charting into less charted or even uncharted frontiers of pharma marketing warfare. Most companies had no choice, though, but to embrace new approaches, at least as a stopgap, to reach their target audience – hoping to revert to pre-pandemic practices, ultimately.

Interestingly, some pharma majors could envisage that long-term focus on many of these new and innovative areas – more effectively than even the pandemic lockdown time, could be a game-changer in the business. Accordingly, they tried to adapt, several of these approaches, quickly and effectively – for sustained excellence in the post-COVID paradigm.

In this article, I shall focus with several global and local, publicly available examples, of innovative pharma marketing approaches that are now being tried by several top drug companies in the post-COVID period.

I. Continuation of pandemic induced innovative approaches – global examples: 

  • Virtual Conferences and Events: Experiencing success with virtual events and conferences during the COVID-19 pandemic, many pharma companies are leveraging this digital space to reach out to healthcare professionals and patients. These events now include webinars, selected virtual conferences, and online workshops.

Pfizer, reportedly, held its first virtual investor day in September 2020, which was attended by thousands of participants from around the world. The company also organized several virtual events to educate healthcare professionals about its vaccine.

  • Social Media Marketing: The use of social media marketing is also increasing in the pharmaceutical industry. Companies are using platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to reach out to their customers and engage with them on a regular basis to build long-term relationships.

For example, Novartis, among a few others, is using social media to promote core values of its products and engage with customers. The company has built a strong presence on social media platforms where it shares news and updates about its products and research, as well.

  • Influencer Marketing: Many companies are partnering with influencers in the healthcare industry to promote their products. These influencers can be doctors, nurses, patient advocates, or even celebrities who are passionate about health and wellness. Influencer marketing can help companies reach a wider audience and build trust with their customers.

The French pharma major – Sanofi, has partnered with celebrity chef and diabetes advocate Charles Mattocks who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2011. The objective is to raise awareness about diabetes and promote the company’s diabetes products through social media and other channels.

  • Patient Education Programs: Companies are investing more on patient education programs to educate patients about their health conditions and treatment options. These programs can include online resources, mobile apps, and support groups. By providing patients with accurate and reliable information, companies can improve patient outcomes and build brand loyalty.

Merck, another global player, developed an online resource called MerckEngage to educate patients about their health conditions and treatment options. The platform provides patients with information about various health topics, including diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.

II. Continuation of pandemic induced innovative approaches – Indian examples: 

Some Indian pharma players are also not far behind in several innovative areas for business excellence in the post pandemic paradigm. Following are some of those examples from Indian pharma companies, as available in the public domains. These seem to have attracted greater focus in the pandemic period, and are continuing even today, with undiluted focus:

Virtual Conferences and Events: Illustratively, Lupin has been using virtual events to promote its products in the post-COVID period. The company is organizing virtual conferences and webinars to reach out to healthcare professionals and other customers. Similarly, Sun Pharma launched a virtual conference for healthcare professionals to discuss the latest developments in the field of dermatology.

Digital and Social Media Marketing:  Several Indian pharma companies are increasingly adopting digital marketing “strategies to reach out to their customers. Companies are using social media, online ads, email marketing, and other digital channels to promote their products and services.

For example, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories continue using social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to engage with healthcare professionals and consumers. Even, Cadila Healthcare, reportedly, has been using search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and social media marketing to reach out to its customers.

Telemedicine: With the rise of telemedicine during the pandemic, pharma companies are partnering with Telehealth/Telemedicine platforms to reach out to patients. Companies like Cipla have partnered with telemedicine platforms to offer online consultations and delivery of medicines to patients’ doorsteps. Sun Pharma has also been using telemedicine to reach out to its customers and has partnered with telemedicine providers to offer its products to patients who cannot visit a doctor in person.

  • Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) advertising: DTC advertising is gaining popularity among Indian pharma companies. With the rise of online pharmacies, companies like Abbott and Pfizer are launching DTC campaigns to increase disease and treatment awareness programs directly to consumers.
  • Collaborations and partnerships: Indian pharma companies are increasingly collaborating with other players in the healthcare ecosystem to provide integrated solutions. For example, as mentioned above, Lupin has partnered with a health-tech firm to offer a platform for online consultations and home delivery of medicines.
  • Greater patient-centric approaches: Some Indian pharma companies are adopting more patient-centric approaches for more effective omnichannel patient engagement initiatives. For example, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories have launched an initiative to educate patients on the proper use of medicines and the importance of adherence to treatment.

As the industry continues to evolve, we can expect to see more companies adopting newer and more innovative marketing strategies to engage with their customers.

Summary:

Many of the above examples are pandemic triggered innovative approaches to keep the neck above water during unprecedented business disruptions in the pharma industry. Interestingly, some companies are not just continuing but further sharpening these initiatives in the post pandemic days. Moreover, it’s good to note that these are now being implemented by the concerned sales and marketing teams with greater gusto and zeal.

The point to ponder, therefore, is pharma industry ready now to excel amid start and more often nuanced – the challenge of change? To respond to these challenges effectively, more companies now need to seriously evaluate and consider adapting such strategic footsteps, first as pilot studies and then gradually scale up, for business excellence in the contemporary period.

Let me hasten to add, in this ball game pharma leadership mindset change to act decisively, after accurately studying – based on data-science, to ascertain where and how to change could well be a win-lose situation. However, the good news is, recent data vindicate the accelerating footfalls in many these less or even un- charted pharma marketing frontiers, both globally and locally.

By: Tapan J. Ray        

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.

Effective Change Management – The Magic Wand For Business Success And Sustainability

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Change – just as it’s an integral part of our life, so is for any business, including pharmaceutical or healthcare. Interestingly, the phase of transition of such changes isn’t always slow and gradual. In many cases, especially for business, or for a lifestyle too, these transitions could also be faster and disruptive.

The speed of many such changes is now driven by rapidly evolving technology. Or these could often be triggered by some unanticipated event, like the Covid-19 pandemic that we all experienced, very recently. Such changes may impact people working in different functions, in different ways. Which is why, organizations need to be all-time ready, with a robust process in place – known as Change Management.

In this article, I shall focus on the relevance of putting in place a well-validated system driven Change Management process within, especially, the Indian pharmaceutical organizations. Let me start with my understanding on what is the Change Management, so that all of us be on the same page in this regard. 

To be on the same page on what is Change Management:

There are several definitions of the change management process expressed differently, but it’s core concept remains unchanged. One such illustration comes from The TechTarget network. It says:“Change management is a systematic approach to dealing with the transition or transformation of an organization’s goals, processes, or technologies. The purpose of change management is to implement strategies for effecting change, controlling change, and helping people to adapt to change.”

Why many pharma majors are considering it now, more than ever before:

Being amid a technological revolution, encompassing almost all aspects of life and then in the post-pandemic area, change is being expected as a way of life and business, more than ever in the past. Although pharma industry a late learner - and is also traditionally late to change – these can’t be now pushed to the back burner, any longer, as was happening in the pre-pandemic era.

‘Change Management’ can’t be pushed to the back burner, any longer:

This process has now attracted a sense of urgency for many pharma players, as we read and look around. Several big companies have already started addressing the leadership challenges to manage and leverage the evolving changes, as I wrote in my article of October 3, 2022, in this blog.

To be in sync with both customers and employee expectations on an ongoing basis, the change management process in an organization has assumed a priority. User friendly state of the art technology is facilitating to effectively address the growing intricacies of today’s field staff role by infusing leadership mindset change in the organizational culture. Emphasizing this point in my article on July 19, 2021, I underscored that such change should necessarily reflect the company’s vision for the future, unambiguously.

Most companies have changed over a period of time in varying degree:

Most companies have changed over a period of time. Nonetheless, today’s need, pace and the process of change demand a data science based customized approach. The good news is several pharma majors have also started feeling that they require not just to change with time, but also need to put more data science based cerebral input to fathom why and how it changed to be more effective in the future.

An insightful understanding is essential to put in place and kick start a right change management process. To give a sense of it, let me cite a contemporary example of one of the successful global pharma majors – GSK. This case study was prepared by the Project Management Institute.

Achievement of a key milestone could make all the difference:

When GSK initiated this process in 2009, the organization realized that an important milestone in the implementation of the company’s change initiative must be to gain the trust and belief of leadership—many of whom were neutral or cynical about it.

To achieve this goal a custom made ‘Accelerating Delivery and Performance (ADP) program; was found to be quite effective for the company. It delivered both hard business benefits as well as softer organizational development benefits. This approach allowed the team to gain the attention of those leaders who wanted both.

Five principles formed the bedrock of the ADP approach:

The following ADP principles are time-tested, contemporary, and several of these were practiced by GSK in their change management process when it started in 2009.

  • Changes should begin with the initiator of change and focusing on greater customer satisfaction.
  • Active support of all stakeholders in the process of change is critical.
  • Include all staff who will be impacted by the change – while defining, explaining, and ensuring accountability and continuously measuring the time bound shared goals, especially the business and financial ones.
  • Make sure they all share ownership for the outcome of change, through seamless teamwork.
  • Make a pilot study before pan organization implementation.

The change management process continues:

That the change management process needs to be ongoing even for successful drug majors – such as GSK, is particularly evident from their Press Release on June 23, 2021.

The communique giving details of the organization’s strategic and other transformation pathways, also highlighted, “New GSK to deliver step-change in growth and performance over the next ten years driven by high-quality Vaccines and Specialty Medicines portfolio and late-stage pipeline.” 

Specific areas of change, as the pandemic wanes:

There are several studies in this area, such as the one published in the Growth Faculty Learn, published on February 07, 2023. Let me paraphrase its summary as follows:

  • Although the pace of change in different businesses may vary but will certainly keep changing. The leaders should, therefore, act proactively to lead their teams through a well validated change management process to gain a competitive edge.
  • Full preparedness for the change and garnering change management skills before the process begins are critical.
  • Advance planning for employee wellbeing, well structured individual and collective communication strategy, deciding on specifics of a hybrid work culture – all based on data-science, are of great importance.
  • To ensure the effectiveness of the change management process a positive workplace environment is a must, which will stand on five pillars - Trustworthiness, Empathy, Genuineness, Self-awareness, and a Learning mindset.

Thus, it’s high time for all to realize that the pharma business ball game is now changing fast for all, creating an urgent need to focus on the critical areas of change.

Conclusion:

It now boils down to an important point, which was also echoed in an article on this area published in the Pharma IQ on November 23, 2022. It underscored just as any living being keeps moving on the pathway of change, pharma and healthcare industry should proactively follow a similar path.

External environmental factors would play a catalytic role to accelerate the speed of change. These include fast evolving consumer friendly digital applications and health apps - newer, better, and more targeted drugs and treatment processes, or even unprecedented disruptions of lives and livelihoods, just what we all have recently experienced.

A study published in the Pharma Marketing Network on October 27, 2021, also reiterated that the main goal of any change management approach is to foster support of all concerned that leads to good outcomes within an organization. It found that an effective way to implement a change is by engaging and inspiring employees to adopt new (and improved) ways of working.

Against the above backdrop, putting a structured change management process in place by Indian pharma players, I reckon, is now essential. This approach seems to be a Magic Wand, as it were, for ongoing business success and sustainability in today’s rapidly evolving paradigm.

By: Tapan J. Ray       

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.

 

Growing Intricacies of Today’s Field Staff Role And The Path Ahead

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With a varying degree, and in various forms, a hybrid working model is now gaining greater acceptance of several top pharma companies, across the world, just as in many other industries.

This trend gets echoed in an article of December 07, 2022, published in the Reuters Events Pharma. It recalled, how pharma industry, since nearly the last three years, was compelled to adopt fully digitalengagement models initially triggered by the Covid pandemic. Gradually, more pharma players are preparing themselves to adopt a more complex and hybrid customer engagement model, with a diverse mix of engagement modalities.

Consequently, in many ways the medical rep’s role is undergoing a metamorphosis and becoming more complex. Thus: ‘There is a growing requirement for them to connect the right decision-makers at the provider with the right subject matter experts in pharma’, as the above study recommends.

This situation demands, more flexible customer engagement strategies, based on ongoing data-science based indicators – replacing the traditional static outreach schedules and content that remain in place for months at a time. In today’s article, I shall dwell in this rapidly emerging area.

This changing trend is obvious:

The above change is obvious, and also gets reflected in an article, published by the McKinsey & Company on September 30, 2022. The paper indicated, although some physician’s preference for in-person meetings with the reps has rebounded since November 2020, it was still below pre-pandemic levels (58 percent compared to 76 percent) as of August 2021. Thus, there is a need for a change.

The need for a hybrid approach – why?

The need for a hybrid approach in modern sales and marketing has been vindicated by several recent studies. The doctors or other healthcare customers can now broadly be put in three categories, as follows:

  • Doctors looking for a Rep’s personal visit for product briefing.
  • Difficult to meet doctors, who prefer to get relevant product/ disease information through remote platforms, as they want and when they want.
  • Doctors who now prefer a hybrid engagement, some personal and some remotely.

Thus, no wonder why the top players are upending their traditional go-to-market (GTM) strategies by augmenting their field sales forces with remote-sales organizations for better meeting the needs and preferences of physicians and other customers. The above McKinsey study also underscored, ‘’the shift to a hybrid sales approach has been demonstrated to unlock growth opportunities and reduce the cost to serve across care settings.

Hybridization of a pharma field staff job with push and pull strategies:

For pharma field staff, like Medical Representatives, one may wonder how their work can be made hybrid for increased effectiveness by manifold. Let me illustrate this point with the example of hybrid drug detailing to its target audience.

As many would know, drug companies have been traditionally engaging with physicians mostly with face-to-face product detailing, for increased prescription demand generation. This approach primarily entails a ‘push strategy’.

Whereas e-detailing is crafted with a built-in ‘pull strategy’, allowing customers to fetch what they want – how they want and when they want. E-detailing in various sophisticated forms is now receiving a strong tailwind on its sails, after getting a strong boost during the lockdown period of the recent Covid-19 pandemic.

The key benefits for hybridization:

As a research paper in this regard, published in the i-manager’s Journal on Management found that high technology based e-detailing not only reduce selling costs, but more importantly, increase the company’s physician reach and communication effectiveness powered by a pull driven system.

This study, after thoroughly examining the strength and weaknesses of both the traditional and the technology driven approach to drug detailing, proposed a blended or hybrid selling model as superior. The researchers found that ‘by integrating push and pull strategies with the use of new information tools, pharmaceutical marketers can best maximize the process of diffusing drug knowledge, while best considering the demanding needs of selling to time pressured physicians.’

The paper then concluded that – “Hybrid detailing can enhance physician knowledge by providing pharmaceutical marketers with more effective digital information tools that can further support and improve an adaptive and relational selling approach.’

That’s why, many pharma majors now believe that a hybrid detailing model, can help the company to better assess, track, and evaluate their selling effectiveness by employing information tools, systematically. This approach can be an integral part of the overall Omnichannel communication platform of the organization.

Transformation to Hybrid Customer engagement model – some options:

There could be several options to make a transition into a hybrid customer engagement model from a traditional one. One way could be to create a fresh infrastructure for a state-of-the-art e-marketing platform, alongside, of course, traditional sales and marketing.

Another way may well be, to keep traditional sales and marketing in-house, and outsource Omnichannel digital sales and marketing activities. The choice of the right options will be decided by the leadership of individual companies, based on their wherewithal, and other strength and weaknesses.

Outsourcing of digital marketing – an option worth pondering:

Outsourcing of digital sales and marketing aren’t new in the global pharma industry, many large pharma companies, including Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Amgen, and several others are, reportedly, availing such services for quite some time, with a significant return.

These custom-made digital services, as reported, could be many, such as, e-marketing, remote detailing, multi-channel interaction management, online video, mobile, and smart device detailing, besides permission-based email and targeted advertising services to name a few. Thus, reckon, while considering a hybrid pharma sales and marketing model, outsourcing of digital sales and marketing is worth pondering, especially in India with so much of talents in this area.

Conclusion: 

It is important to note that unlike many other fields, hybrid models of pharma sales and marketing, don’t just involve Work from Home (WFH). For this critical transformation drug companies would need first to create a commensurate organizational ecosystem to take on board all individuals in the hybrid workforce. The aim is to deliver differentiated deliverables in the marketplace with an expected return.

As I see around, building a hybrid sales and marketing model in-house from the very beginning could be more challenging, especially for mid-size companies due to various reasons. Outsourcing the non-traditional digital part of this initiative may add speed and exponential value, if the selection is right.

Either way, the pharma leaders, I guess, are already witnessing increasing intricacies in the traditional role of field staff. It needs to be resolved, soon – undoubtedly.

By: Tapan J. Ray       

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.

 

Deliver Patient-Perceived Value – Not Incrementally But In Quantum Measure

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Many critical functional areas of most drug companies, such as, marketing, manufacturing, supply chain, medical affairs, human resource, R&D, quality assurance, information technology – traditionally work in silos. It doesn’t mean, though, that there isn’t any interaction between them. Nevertheless, a large majority of them don’t work as a team with a purpose or to achieve a shared goal of delighting customers with value delivered. Such a silo-mindset could often be detrimental to smooth and sustainable business operations. This was also vindicated during the recent pandemic.

Having gone through the harrowing experience of recent disruptions in the lifesaving pharma business operations, a fresh realization has dawned on many leaders’ mind. This point also came to the fore in many studies. One such is the article on ‘Overcoming industry obstacles with a cross-functional strategy’, published by the strategy&, which is a part of PwC network.

The paper came out with some thought-provoking findings. It said, while in the pre-Covid days, mostly competing business pressures used to drive the operational strategies, today the drivers are quite different. ‘Factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, geopolitics, new therapeutic modalities, and new ways of working make it vital’ for pharma players to make such transformational operational overhaul for long term excellence.

The spotlight needs to shift from continuous incremental improvement, such as, cost savings, quality assurance, and readiness to deliver—to long-term external challenges. ‘These include high inflation and an increase in complexity and risk, as well as the compounding effects these forces have on each other.”

Several studies have underscored that this approach can ‘make sure operations can protect enterprise continuity while still delivering to patients.’ this article will venture to simplify this complex, yet critical issue. The aim is to achieve a quantum increase in value offering to customers that this strategic approach can potentially deliver to accelerate growth momentum the pharma business.

Some see pharma business as usual, astute leaders see a unique opportunity for change:

An interesting point to note. As the disruptions caused by the Covid pandemic are fading away, some critical health safety norms are also being eased by the authorities. Apparently, the overall daily working-life seems to be limping back to normal. Many pharma leaders are, therefore, considering that the industry operations are going back to pre-pandemic normal, and the business operations will soon revert to the old normal mode soon.

On the other hand, we find some astute leadership who could derive a long-term lesson from the above disruptions and are already in the process of executing those operational changes. This leadership mindset gets reflected in two recent media reports related to two pharma majors – Sanofi and GSK.

On November 28, 2022, it was reported, ‘Sanofi moves into swanky new Paris HQ designed around hybrid work and sustainability.’ Again, on December 12, 2022, another media headline flashed as ‘GSK embraces hybrid work for the long haul at new London HQ.’

To me these are interesting examples to convert problems into opportunities for long-term business success and sustainability, in the new normal. These tasks entail the transformation of business infrastructure alongside its operational strategies.

The need for re-strategizing reverberates across several recent studies:

The need for such an action, as captured by researchers, is prompted by more waves of innovation coming in various operations and functions of pharma business, mostly triggered by the pandemic. The spectrum of innovation, as reports reveal, ranges ‘from new treatment modalities, to smart machines, advanced analytics, and digital connectivity.’

Hence, the future of pharma operations strategy needs to be different now from the past. This finding was also published by the McKinsey & Company on October 10, 2022. It reiterated, as pharma companies are emerging from two years of intense firefighting, now is exactly the right time for their renewed emphasis on a new operations strategy. It emphasized: ‘Succeeding in pharma under these new and challenging conditions will require succeeding in operations.’

This point was further vindicated by the results of the latest McKinsey Global Survey, which states:‘Less than one-third of the surveyed respondents, all of whom had been part of a transformation in the past five years, said their companies’ transformations had achieved a sustained performance improvement.’

Another study very specific to India:

Another survey on ‘Indian consumer sentiment during the coronavirus crisis,’ published by theMcKinsey & Company on October 13, 2022, also reconfirms the subtle changing trend in Indian consumer behavior. Its findings include some of the following areas:

  • More than 70 percent consumers are engaging in modified out-of-home behavior, even as social gathering returning to almost normalcy.
  • Digital continues to hold sway with more than 75 percent consumers using either digital or omnichannel while purchasing across categories.
  • Social media continues to be an important influence while shopping.
  • Gen Z and millennial are leading in new shopping behavior, with value being the top reason and sustainability as an emerging factor.

Hence, to engage with such healthcare consumers and deliver the value as they perceive, pharma operational strategies may call for a rejig – for longer term success and sustainability. That said, a key point to remember is that the marketing function is central while redrawing new operational strategy.

The marketing function is central while redrawing new operational strategy:

The need for the above was well articulated in another study published by ResearchGate in May 2020. It pointed out that many drug companies invest lots of funds to be more productive in various key operational areas, like R&D, manufacturing, or supply chain. However, if marketing strategies are not in sync with contemporary market dynamics and customer behavioral trends, despite game changing improvements in those areas, achieving business growth objectives will be challenging.

Based on the study, the researchers concluded, “an effective marketing in the organization has significant impact in achieving Organizational goals and Operational Excellence in Pharmaceuticals.” The study further emphasized, ‘Operational Excellence and marketing are always interlinked. Therefore, marketing plays a vital role in achieving Operational Excellence in Pharmaceuticals or any other industry.”

Conclusion:

As we know, market dynamics keep changing with time. Generally, some strong trigger factors, such as, Covid related disruptions of lives and livelihoods, may hasten the process of this crucial change. Such changes necessitate long-term transformation of pharma operational strategies, as initiated, for example, by GSK and Sanofi.

As McKinsey & Company articles have articulated, the transformation process and scale may differ from company to company with common long-term challenges remaining the same. Such operating model transformations – involving digital tools, data science with analytics capabilities across the company, often ‘help companies interact with healthcare professionals and other stakeholders more effectively’.

Consequently, the company garners greater capabilities to deliver new patient-perceived value – not just for incremental, but quantum business growth. This, I reckon, could be a game changer for long-term success and sustainability in the pharma business.

By: Tapan J. Ray      

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.

 

This New Engagement Model Garners Significant Rewards For Pharma

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Last year, on July 26, 2021, I wrote in this blog on gaining a competitive edge with Omnichannel pharma marketing Omnichannel pharma marketing. However, from several recent studies, it appears, it’s still remains in a nascent stage. Most players in the industry haven’t been able to get there, just yet.

This is evident from a paper, published in the Reuters Events on November 08, 2022. It underscored, ‘But few, perhaps none, can say they have yet mastered omnichannel. A 360-degree view of the customer remains a work in progress. The seamless customer experience that physicians have come to expect in their private lives as customers in retail, finance, or hospitality, remains an aspiration.’

That said, the good news is – today – with rapidly declining Covid-19 onslaught, many drug companies have realized that their earlier assumption of ‘we know what our customers want,’ is invalid in the emerging perspective. Thus, it is foolhardy for their marketing strategy planners to believe that have a 360-degree view of their customers. This realization has prompted several companies to find out, based on the data, what the key customers’ needs are and engage with them accordingly.

In this article, I shall, therefore, reemphasize for the consideration of the young marketers that Omnichannel customer engagement, including patients and doctors, would help fetch significant and sustained financial rewards for drug companies.

However, another visualization of 6 years ago seems to have come true:

About 6 years ago, on December 26, 2016, I visualized in this blog: ‘a majority of the doctors’ choices in India would, possibly, involve MRs, while a good number of other important doctors’ choices may probably be independent of them. Nevertheless, from this emerging trend, it’s clear now that multi-channel engagement would be a new normal in pharma sales and marketing, sooner than later.’

This visualization seems to have come true by a great extent, as vindicated by the above study of the Reuters Events. It confirms, currently, most companies are stuck in multi-channel content delivery and, in fact, are still a long way of enjoying the benefits of truly aligned – Omnichannel engagement. This brings us to the question: ‘What’s the difference between Multi-Channel and Omnichannel content delivery strategy for customer engagement?’

Difference between Multi-Channel and Omnichannel content delivery strategy:

The article published in the Pharmaceutical Executive, on June 30, 2021, indicated: ‘An integrated strategy based on Omnichannel marketing is now increasingly replacing multichannel marketing.’

Nonetheless, in my article of July 26, 2021, I highlighted, although both omnichannel and multichannel engagement will be able to deliver targeted contents to patients through several interactive digital platforms, these two aren’t the same. Omnichannel approach connects these channels, including smartphone-based Apps, specially formatted websites, social media, community, and the likes – bridging technology-communication gaps that may exist in multichannel solutions.

Notably, any change from the fragmented and siloed multichannel approach to Omnichannel marketing would entail simultaneous orchestration of channels across personal, non-personal, and media. Besides orchestration of channels, the message of course, needs to be unified, interrelated – without being repetitive. From this perspective: ‘Bringing the channels and stakeholders together in a truly integrated manner is the pivotal shift required to break through today’s noisy and crowded pharmaceutical marketplace,’ as the above Pharmaceutical Executive article concluded.

More and more people are charting the digital space:

Fast increasing penetration into the cyberspace by a large section of the population, especially in the healthcare space – triggered by Covid related lockdowns, is now all pervasive. An increasing number of people now want to know more and more about various disease states, their treatment and prevention options, in the digital space. Patients and healthcare providers’ key requirements include, where to get the right information from, and how.

Information-needs expanding beyond disease or drug efficacy and safety:

A discussion, arranged by the Fingerpaint Group and published in the Fierce Pharma on November 14, 2022, covered some interesting points in this area. It acknowledged that in the digital space: “You’ve got the efficacy, the safety information, all that.” The discussion then pointed out: “But for a consumer, it’s a different type of journey. It’s, how do I learn more about the disease I’m dealing with? What is it I want to know, not only either for me, or if I’m a caregiver for somebody in my family, even, how do I help support them?”

Thus, it comes out clearly that patients’ or care givers’ quest for information isn’t just about the disease, it’s also about the quality of information that will help the person, as a whole. The drug companies, I reckon, should now accept it as one of their responsibilities. As one of the participants in this discussion said, ‘finding ways to reach everybody in the whole continuum so that they’re educated and informed, so that they can make better decisions for themselves,’ are imperatives for the marketers.

Personal detailing or other personal engagements don’t become irrelevant: 

Omnichannel approach doesn’t make traditional in-person detailing or other personal engagements irrelevant or obsolete. However, those alone, will no longer help a pharma player to achieve performance excellence. The new challenge is how does a company get to the right audience, get the right product to the right patient, or caregivers, amongst this vast ocean of digital noise.

Moreover, the ongoing digital push – beyond several essential personal outreach, will only accelerate in different ways. Omnichannel customer engagement, based on their own terms of engagement, including time, speed, and quality of information, will be the name of the new the game for success.

Many pharma companies aren’t sure where to start, But…

McKinsey & Company in a paper, published on January 05, 2022, also said so. It observed: ‘An analytics-enabled omnichannel commercial model can elevate HCP engagement, but many pharma companies are not sure where to start.’ However, it reiterated: ‘An analytics-enabled omnichannel commercial model can create value; Companies should start now.’

Thus, many pharma marketers may require hand-holding by domain experts, at least, to begin with. However, selection of experts being the key, should go through a structured validation process, including their previous success record in this initiative. As I articulated above, the challenge remains, how does a company use Omnichannel platform to engage the right customers with the right products and associated details, navigating through the noisy cyberspace.

That said, it won’t be unfair to acknowledge that many pharma companies are moving in the right direction.

But many pharma companies are moving in the right direction:

As I mentioned in my article of May 31, 2021: COVID-19 is driving lasting changes in what HCPs need and value,’ found the Accenture Healthcare Provider Survey May 2020, named – ‘Reinventing Relevance.’ Several physicians from the US, Europe and Asia were found to have experienced a significant change taking place in many pharma companies’ communication with them – going much beyond just product information.

Accenture’s follow-up study in August 2020 also reiterated, ‘pharma companies have improved how they engage with healthcare providers during Covid-19.’ It, therefore, appears that the new value expectations of many physicians are being met with a newer value delivery model, significantly deviating from pre-Covid practices.

However, in the above article, I discussed about value delivery through content – not about the channels used.

Conclusion:

The paper by McKinsey & Company, as mentioned above, also indicates another important point. While channels to engage HCPs and other customers are proliferating, the line between online and offline engagement is rapidly blurring. It further adds, managing this imperative has become more and more overwhelming for sales reps. The reason being, they “have traditionally relied on their ‘instincts’ to build relationships with HCPs.

It is now becoming challenging even for many experienced reps to tailor and optimize today’s complex mix of channels, content, and frequency of interactions for individual HCPs, the paper underscores. Which is why, today, transforming the existing commercial model is considered both inevitable and urgent, and:

“Pioneers that have adopted analytics and omnichannel approaches as part of their commercial model have garnered significant rewards.” the paper concluded.

By: Tapan J. Ray      

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.

 

Keep Pace with Pharma’s Even Nuanced Technology Driven Changes – For Success

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Since 2020, unprecedented global disruptions affecting lives, livelihoods, and business, have impacted India in equal measure, if not more – across various areas, including the pharma industry. If there is one change that is creating a snowballing effect, is the rate of progress and use of technology in its operations.

Consequently, finding properly trained people, to drive the new avatar of technology driven today’s business – right from R&D, supply chain, manufacturing, sales and marketing, customer behavior, market dynamics – poses a facet of ongoing challenges.

This is primarily because, some key business-success requirements have now significantly changed, but many are still nuanced that one may tend to possibly ignore. Thus, early identification of these and placing properly skilled – right people in the right job, who can floor the gas pedal in search of excellence, assume two key priorities for the pharma players, more than ever before.

Most companies, as I understand, are finding this task quite time consuming, if not arduous. The options are basically two. The first one – spot, search and hire the best talent from outside the organization. And the second – spot the internal talents, hone their skills, handhold them for some time on the job, before they take charge and assume accountability for achieving the set goals. In this article, I shall focus on the relevance, criticality, and associated intricacies that pharma leadership may encounter in this process.

Intense focus on the drug industry in last two years – blessings and burden:

A recent research study on Talent Trends For Life Sciences Organizations, published by Randstad Sourceright on July 22, 2022, came out with some interesting findings in this area. The key ones are as below:

  • In the past couple of years, the intense global focus on Life Sciences Industries brings both blessings and burden on the industry.
  • Key drug manufacturers received unprecedented levels of financial and regulatory support for the development of therapies and vaccines for the treatment and prevention of Covid-19 onslaught on the people across the world.
  • In tandem, the drug industry had to withstand tremendous pressures and intense scrutiny to achieve this task by re-prioritizing their R&D focus, which no drug manufacturer had experienced ever before.

Alongside, pharma customer characteristics and behavior also started changing fast in many areas, and consequently the market dynamics. Many of these changes are still nuanced and are driven by contemporary technology. Amid lesser concern for Covid-pandemic, the ongoing metamorphosis in the world of work – impacting almost all functional areas of a customer-driven organization, poses a fresh pharma leadership challenge.

Thus, for future business success, pharma companies now need to capture relevant real-time data, and analyze them to gain in-depth insight of these changes. Consequently, it is important to figure out how much the quality of talent requirement has changed for an organization, to continue to remain as patient centric. However, before doing that, it’s worth figuring out what kept the wheels of pharma businesses moving during the years of the recent pandemic.

What kept the wheels of business moving during the pandemic:

Several important studies have made dip-stick assessment in this space. One such recent study findings of Randstad Sourceright highlighted the following three, among others, as the key success factors for employee motivation in trying times, which kept the wheels of business moving:

  • Empathy of the leadership,
  • Flexibility in work life
  • Ingenuity of employees to quickly adapt to the new normal

Some of these, or all, may linger in the minds of many employees. They may still long for empathy at work and flexibility in the workplace, to unleash their full potential for organizational success. Otherwise, they may look outside, especially to those companies who can meet their expectations, in the new normal.

In this situation, fostering EQ within the organization to encourage employees committing to the corporate shared goal, is a key requirement for pharma’s performance excellence. The bottom-line is,how well an organization continues to nurture and retain or attract new talents, besides honing their skills in line with the changing customer value delivery process, would be critical.

Need to identify even nuanced changes in workplaces:

Thus, before making a dip-stick assessment to ascertain the changes in organizational talent requirements, it is worth getting a sense from the available studies what’s going on today in the industry.

Like many other countries, the pandemic is no longer an unsettling unease for most pharma organizations in India. At the same time, studies reiterate that it’s for sure that the pandemic related disruptions have ushered-in visible or nuanced transformations, especially in the operational areas of the life sciences business.

Some recent studies, such as, one done by McKinsey & Company on – Creating the workforce of the future, made a notable observation. It emphasized, “Pharma companies struggle to predict where they will see the talent gaps, these disruptions create, though a majority monitor key trends and track talent needs. Only a minority of companies (40 percent) believe that they really know which skills are needed now, let alone in ten years (less than 25 percent).”

Which is why, I reckon, it is now critical for the Indian pharma leadership to identify, analyze and address, both perceptible and nuanced transformation within their customers, employees, and other stakeholders. And then zero-in on changing talent requirements of employees in key operational areas, including sales and marketing – to gain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

However, it is worth remembering that the supply of quality talent remains limited, although it is essential to catapult the business in a higher growth trajectory. Besides, gradually changing employee expectations in the workplace culture – work-flexibility could emerge as another sought after factor to attract new talents from the millennials. 

The ways to move forward in this area:

Many companies may decide to hire new talents from outside the company, whereas some may look for developing people internally, through well-structured internal human development initiatives. However, the research study of Randstad Sourceright finds: ‘67% of life science and pharma leaders believe reskilling and upskilling employees for different roles is an effective way to address talent scarcity. Additionally, 63% say they already invest in internal mobility platforms to augment their recruiting efforts, while 53% plan to increase their investments in this area.’

Further McKinsey & Company in their above-mentioned article also suggested: ‘Reskilling employees to address talent gaps can help a company retain the bulk of its operations workers and empower them to take advantage of a new world.’ So did another article on building pharma talent of tomorrow, published in the Pharma Executive on October 05, 2022. It emphasized that training current employees who already know the business, and are familiar with the inner workings, would expectedly take much less time to deliver that is expected of them.

I also understand, a few large Indian pharma majors are also focusing on internal talent development as one of the key organizational development initiatives. They are identifying internal talents in an organized manner, up-skill them to shoulder new responsibilities – following a well-charted career path for each one of them. It’s important for the leadership to demonstrate and make these employees also feel that they are of great value to the organization.

From the above perspective, I reckon, in today’s environment when many employees are eager to search for a greener pasture that suits them better, the above approach also provides an opportunity for pharma employers. This opportunity is primarily to retain talents, by incentivizing them with learning, and development process, besides a chance for career progress in the company.

Conclusion:

One thing for sure is critical to ensure that right talents are always placed in the right job. This is crucial to keep pace with not just significant transformations. But even for emerging and nuanced technology driven changes in customer characteristics, behavior, and market dynamics. Thereafter, each organization will need to identify available in-house talents for upskilling, honing and development. Whereas some fresh new talents may necessarily be required to hire from outside or outsourced.

Several recent studies have also indicated that the best strategy in this regard, is the optimal combination of hiring from outside or outsourcing the new requirements, alongside internal talent development initiatives, and charting a career path for them. To chart on this emerging frontier calls for a mindset change. Thus, it is important for us to remember that only permanent factor in the pharma business is – change. Can one ignore it? Of course, but at one’s own peril, because in the long run “What You Do is Who You Are” in the future pharma business.

By: Tapan J. Ray      

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.

 

Leveraging Data Science To Deliver Unique Patient-experience

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“Changes in consumer behavior, many of which were accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, are fueling a redesign of the health ecosystem.” This finding was revealed by a recent study of the PwC’s Health Research Institute (HRI). The research provided insights about how and why specific groups of consumers used health services during the pandemic – from mental health and telehealth to in-home care and other non-traditional care sites.

The study also captured ‘their willingness to use them again in the future,’ and suggested, those pharma companies that closely monitor these consumer signals and design, accordingly, will likely emerge as more customer centric, as the pandemic wanes.

From this perspective, effective application of data science for creating a unique patient experience by listening to patient voice, is now an imperative for pharma players. Which is why, this approach is nowa key business success ingredient in the changing paradigm. It helps offering a holistic disease treatment solution to patients searching for an effective and affordable disease treatment process.

This article will, therefore, focus on leveraging data science for strategic use of Real-World Evidence (RWE) based on Real World Data (RWD) – on how customer characteristics and behavior impact health outcomes. This initiative is fast becoming a key driver to excel in contemporary pharma business.

Strategic use of RWD/RWE increasing in pharma marketing plans:

RWE, as the name suggests, is the evidence derived from RWD. These are collected outside of clinical trials from various sources, such as, patients and HCP surveys on treatment outcomes, electronic health records wherever available, Wearable Health Devices (WHD), insurance claims, data from connected healthcare records, custom study and many others.

The McKinsey & Company article in this area, published on July 23, 2020, also indicated so. Although, some leading pharma companies have already been using RWE. However, recent progress in digital and advanced analytics allows it to be employed in new ways to deliver impact at scale, the article highlighted. When used by hands-on- professionals of repute in this area, RWE can help pharma marketers understand how patient characteristics and behaviors affect health outcomes.

The research paper on how Biopharmaceutical companies are embedding real-world data and evidence use across the enterprise, published in Deloitte Insights on September 21, 2022, presented an interesting contemporary example. It wrote: ‘During the COVID-19 pandemic, RWD/E played a key role in enabling Biopharma companies to innovate and bring novel vaccines and therapies against this highly contagious disease to market in record time.’id-19,

The approach gained momentum during the Covid-19 pandemic:

The above research study of Deloitte brought out this fact succinctly. It found; unprecedented challenge posed by COVID-19 pandemic prompted several drug companies to leverage RWD/E to innovate faster than ever before. More than half of the companies surveyed by Deloitte used RWD/E to understand the incidence and severity of COVID-19 and its variants for vaccine and drug development.’

The survey found: ‘Many vaccine developers, such as Johnson & Johnson analyzed RWD to predict COVID-19 hotspots across geographies to optimize site selection and collect data from diverse racial and ethnic groups.’ Besides, RWE also played a critical role for these companies in understanding vaccine effectiveness across demographics such as age, gender, race, and ethnicity and determining the need for boosters.

Improves patient experience for business excellence:

A systematic and ongoing tracking and analysis of well-identified RWD, by pharma marketing analytics professionals, can help in-depth understanding of changing pharma customer characteristics and behavior, more precisely. Such initiatives include patients, HCPs, hospitals and even the policy makers. Several drug majors have adopted this practice, immediately after absorbing the initial shock of unprecedented disruptions during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Similarly, RWD can help map the exact available space for demand where a brand is being used and potential competitive value-space for its further demand extension – based on real time customer behavior with changing characteristics. To shape customer journeys, such findings may immensely help while strategizing for more targeted content delivery, with sharper segmentation and brand positioning.

Therefore, finding such gaps in various areas of patients’ journey – in their search for an effective and affordable treatment, and appropriately filling these up with brand value delivery is critical. This will help improve patient experience manifold, accelerating business excellence, in tandem.

A recent paper titled, ‘Maximizing your role as a newly appointed real-world evidence leader,’ published by the ZS on March 23, 2022, made similar observations, as above. The study reiterated that patient-generated insights obtained through RWE, are uniquely capable of adding value at different stages of a pharma brand’s life cycle. Or, throughout a patient’s journey on the care pathway of the value delivery system. It concluded: “Carrying out a successful RWE study is a fine balancing act – but its inconveniences and risks are almost certain to be outweighed by the eventual benefits.”

Increasingly used to gain actionable insights to improve patient experience:

In the contemporary market dynamics – driven by changing customer characteristics and behavior, several pharma companies are now effectively combining and analyzing RWD to retrieve RWE. The objective is to gain actionable insights for effective customer engagement for better patient outcomes, to drive business growth. According to a recent podcast by PwC on using data to shape customer journey, the process includes the following:

  • Focusing on the value and outcomes of treatment protocols and less about specific products.
  • Gaining a better understanding of pharma customers and what drives their behavior.
  • Reaching beyond the barrier in driving differentiation amongst competitors.

Conclusion:   

The Forbes article on the Data Science trend in 2022, published on October 04, 2021, aptly epitomized its relevance in today’s business, including pharma industry. It articulated, data science encompasses the practical application of ideas generated by credible and meaningful data from various relevant sources, predictive analytics, and artificial intelligence. Our ability to use such data to our advantage across wide areas in business, would help deliver increasingly worthwhile, valuable, and enjoyable patient experience. 

The article also underscored: ‘If data is the oil of the information age and Machine Learning (ML) is the engine, then data science is the digital domain’s equivalent of the laws of physics that cause combustion to occur and pistons to move.’

Thus, I reckon, both intrinsic and extrinsic brand value creation process, driven by its effectiveness, would increasingly call for Real World Evidence (RWE) based on top-quality Real-World Data (RWD). This is increasingly becoming so critical for success – spanning right across, from product development, launch planning with value propositions – to launch and beyond.

The core purpose of leveraging data science in pharma is, as I see it, is effective decision making throughout the brand life cycle, to deliver a unique patient experience in patients’ journey – with better treatment outcomes.

By: Tapan J. Ray      

Disclaimer: The views/opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own, written in my individual and personal capacity. I do not represent any other person or organization for this opinion.