Reimagining Novartis as a 'medicines and data science' company

Developing medicines requires a certain amount of optimism. Those of us who’ve worked in the field long enough know we fail far more times than we succeed. Without hope and the confidence to make bold, strategic bets, we would never have achieved the incredible breakthroughs that have changed lives across the world over the past century. This week I was fortunate to talk to many health and tech leaders at #JPM18 #StartUpHealth, and shared one of the key reasons for my optimism: the power of data and emerging digital technologies. 

As an industry we have vast datasets built from having conducted countless studies in thousands of diseases and in some cases, like ours, going back decades. At Novartis this is our goldmine: our wealth of clean, curated, longitudinal and interventional data that if we take full advantage of, has the potential to completely transform the way we develop medicines. We believe the technologies we’ve been investing in and integrating into every aspect of how we approach R&D uniquely position us to lead the digital revolution in pharma and reimagine Novartis as a 'medicines and data science’ company.

Applying emerging technologies that in many cases we co-develop through novel, early partnerships with other industries, academia and government, helps us to both drive the next wave of medical innovation and measurably improve the way our R&D engine functions. We’re using machine learning and predictive analytics to improve how we initiate and manage clinical trials – making trial timelines shorter while improving the quality of data we collect. We are rethinking what a trial site is and bringing the treatment to the patient – at their local doctor’s office, or even in their home. We are collecting richer and more diverse insights via apps and sensors that give us real-time data and quality of life information that enhance our understanding of disease progression. We’re using the latest technologies to mine our vast troves of biological data and wealth of compounds to find new disease targets and match them to treatments we may never have found by ourselves. We are challenging the traditional pharma model and embracing tech-like practices, such as scrums and agile approaches and applying design thinking, to help us work more openly and in faster innovation cycles.

And while there are many opportunities, the integration of digital and data science into the pharma operating model presents new challenges. It challenges our industry to think differently, and to be collaborative and transparent in ways we aren’t used to. The road ahead will not be easy. But we have a resource that others don’t – our deep experience and understanding of the science of medicine: the biology of disease and the human body, how to create medicines, how to work with regulatory bodies from around the world to bring them to patients. This is an expertise that’s been crafted over decades, and will remain one of the most critical parts of the new, broader healthcare ecosystem.

We have the tools, knowledge and capability to disrupt the status quo at our fingertips. We now need the will and ambition to build a new, visionary model that blends tech and pharma, harnessing the expertise and strengths of both worlds to deliver generations of transformative medicines that further bend the curve of life.

See more from #StartUpHealth here: https://youtu.be/Ciu-0yZrP8k?t=8h23m58s