{"id":14288,"date":"2019-11-11T19:17:24","date_gmt":"2019-11-11T13:47:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coforge.site\/cigniti\/blog\/?p=14288"},"modified":"2019-11-11T19:17:24","modified_gmt":"2019-11-11T13:47:24","slug":"pharma-lifesciences-agile-tcoe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coforge.site\/cigniti\/blog\/pharma-lifesciences-agile-tcoe\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Pharma industry really prepared to go Agile"},"content":{"rendered":"

Investments in pharmaceuticals sector have always been a risky affair. The high chances of failures and lower chances of good returns make good reasons for this. If we look at the numbers, as per a report, the R&D returns for twelve large-cap biopharma companies have decreased to 1.9% in 2018 from 10.1% in 2010.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the rigid and complex working structure, pharma companies have to deal with the ever-growing pricing pressure among changing government regulations, significant patent losses, and growth of generics and\u00a0<\/span>biosimilars<\/span>. Moreover, there is fierce competition from both internal as well as external forces of the pharma market.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When Amazon, a tech giant that is completely unrelated to healthcare and\u00a0<\/span>lifesciencs<\/span>, acquired\u00a0<\/span>PillPack<\/span>\u00a0last year, it created a disruptive frenzy across the industry. The acquisition demonstrated<\/span>\u00a0Amazon\u2019s strong understanding of customer experiences. This deal also acted as a wake-up call for the entire pharma sector to break away from the legacy systems and adopt more customer-centric and user-friendly practices.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a matter of fact, several researches suggest that in order to transform their R&D functions, in order to make their process\u00a0<\/span>efficient, pharmaceutical companies must bring in Agile processes. By integrating Agile deep within the organizational core, pharma companies will be able to tackle with sudden internal changes as well as the volatility of the external environment.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Changing the outlook<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The pharma industry is in the life-changing and life-altering business. Its ability to deliver solutions quickly has a direct impact on the survival expectancy of people suffering from critical diseases.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the sector prepares to transform digitally, it should also change its approach towards innovation. Pharma companies who\u00a0<\/span>center their<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>focus on their patients<\/span>\u00a0will be the ones who succeed in the future. One of the biggest reason for this is the shift to value-based care.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Digital has become mission-critical for the industry. For the pharma sector to evolve digitally, it has to leverage on the latest technologies and the available data pool. To do so, there is an urgent need for changing the leadership style as well as the organizational culture.\u00a0<\/span>The organizations will have to establish, track, and measure key performance indicators (KPIs) across the processes to channel standardization and stability across the development cycle.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the pharmaceuticals spend globally is expected to decrease\u00a0<\/span>up to 3.1 percent this year. At the same time,<\/span>\u00a0sophisticated technologies such as big data analytics, ML-driven Artificial Intelligence, and RPA are set to enhance the efficiency of the R&D processes.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The advancing technologies and digital adoption can empower the sector to fulfill the unmet needs of their patients. However, before the pharma companies set out on their Agile transformation journey, they will have to consider their business model, patient objectives, and then accordingly approach their drug development strategy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Agile perspective<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pharmaceuticals companies generally operate on cost-based models where the key focus<\/span>\u00a0was the return on investments. As the healthcare and\u00a0<\/span>lifesciences<\/span>\u00a0sector is making value-based care a priority, patient experiences take the primary attention.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With Agile adoption, quality in care becomes the primary objective for the pharma companies worldwide. Apart from standardizing and stabilizing the processes with pre-<\/span>detemined<\/span>\u00a0KPIs, Agile transformation will enable the R&D teams to bring in flexibility. As they would be operating on a focused line of action, they can quickly respond to any changes that come in at a later stage without causing the entire process to go haywire.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the multiple benefits, adoption of Agile in pharma R&D sector will have to face some major challenges such as:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n