Digital Transformation

After returning to the neuroscience space in the summer through a big-money deal with Alector, GlaxoSmithKline is setting up an institute with the University of Oxford that will target neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, frontal temporal dementia, ALS and pain.

Early COVID-19 therapies including Gilead’s remdesivir, China-plus procurement policies, vaccine partnerships and a dovish stance by the central bank led to returns on India biotech and healthcare funds outperforming global returns. Meanwhile, funding for e-pharmacies and online consulting firms gathered pace.

The UK firm has not completed a clinical trial yet but having raised over $350m from its NASDAQ initial public offering and an extra $160m from a private placement, Exscientia's future looks extremely bright.

Pharma is switching up its digital marketing playbook to map multiple touch points, including digital congresses and social media chats to deliver not just a product but a better customer experience, executives from Pfizer, Novo Nordisk and ViiV Healthcare say.

Janssen’s Troy Sarich outlines why it’s hard to emulate randomized controlled trials with real-world evidence studies, emphasizing that the two are “not in competition.” He also highlights the huge strides made by AI-driven technology firms to provide “research-ready” structured data and new game-changing advances in the area of health sensors.

Moderna’s CCO Corinne Le Goff highlighted panomics and pre-emptive care as the industry’s future at a recent event, even as she saw on-shoring and “regaining sovereignty” over health expenditure as being essential to medicines security.

Biopharma experts discuss at a summit core issues around ensuring that fast-paced digital acceleration does not jeopardize the overall experience of healthcare professionals. Clarity about customer needs/behaviors, embracing a fail-fast, learn-fast mindset and measuring customer experience were among the aspects touched upon.

Amgen’s former chief information officer Diana McKenzie highlights the inroads made by technology firms in healthcare and how life science companies can adapt from them while leveraging core capabilities at scale.

From a record more than 100 entries, the finalists have been selected for 12 awards, representing the best and brightest of biopharmaceutical research. 

Anthos Therapeutics’ CEO and ex-head of global commercial operations at Novartis Pharma, John Glasspool, tells Scrip there’s no "automatic premise" that the large promotional launch model is broken. He also outlines how teleconsultation is taking medicine back to its roots and "where it can be" as well, with patients less likely to get white coat syndrome. 

Sanofi India managing director N Rajaram and ex-GSK executive Salil Kallianpur discuss with Scrip a range of aspects around pharma’s digitization efforts including getting the "outside" talent mix right, avoiding digital "intrusion" in physician engagement and the impact of the surge in teleconsultation.

Deal Snapshot: Following its diabetes deal with Biolojic by four months, Lilly’s partnership with Verge on using AI to discover ALS drugs is just the latest of numerous tech-biopharma tie-ups.