 |
Pharmaceutical |
|
| Pharmaceutical companies face challenges in each aspect of their activities and operations, from supporting R&D, streamlining the supply chain and maximising sales force effectiveness. As a global leader in delivering business critical networked solutions and services, BT provides a range of capabilities and products matched to the business needs of pharma.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pharma Futurology: Joined-up healthcare, 2016 and beyond |
|
|
Pharmaceutical companies face ever-growing challenges. People want wider availability of cheaper and more effective drugs, while the industry is struggling to contain spiraling development costs and find its place in an increasingly connected and patient-centric healthcare environment. The traditional pharmaceutical business model is no longer sustainable: something has to change.
Futurology - the study of the future - involves critical reasoning about the way trends develop, based on observations of the present, while considering the path that development has taken to get to this point. It is no easy task to predict the future. Throughout history some of the biggest brains have tried and failed. Literature is littered with examples of poor predictions. For instance, In 1977 Ken Olsen, President and co-founder of Digital Equipment Corp, said: "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home."
Preparation for the future, however, does not necessarily need accurate prediction. Gather your facts, analyse potential outcomes, set your strategy, and you will be able to plan for the future. It is by far a greater mistake to simply witness change and to ignore it completely.
As Dr J.P. Garnier, the CEO of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), commented in 2006: "From 15 pharmaceutical companies that are important today, only a handful will probably survive." Who will survive is not yet decided. What is certain is that continued inaction will guarantee consignment to the history books.
Pharma needs to integrate with the healthcare system, engage in constructive dialogue, and regain consumer confidence. Cause and effect: it is one big network and no one company can stand alone. The world is becoming a smaller place with even the farthest reaches linked to each other through new wireless technology and cheaper, faster computers. In order to join in this joined-up revolution requires some serious joined-up thinking.
This transformation can be characterised as a move towards a more 'ecosystem-centric' view of the industry. The somewhat secretive, protective mindset of the past is being replaced by a recognition that to succeed, pharma companies have to become part of the global healthcare network a network not just of clinicians, healthcare organisations, labs, manufacturers and regulatory bodies, but of patients, too.
Pharma Futurology explores what this means for the industry and how it will change the pharmaceutical global supply chain in the years to come.
By leveraging global resources, improving connections with patients and the healthcare sector, and by focusing on specialist areas, pharma companies will be able to drive down the cost of drug development, reduce time-to-market, and generate revenue by successfully meeting the needs of their patients.
While the future may mean the reduced importance of today's 'blockbuster' drug model, that doesn't necessarily mean that pharmaceutical revenues will be lower. By working closely with the industry to understand these issues, it's the job of companies such as BT to help pharma companies start their transformation today - and prepare for success as a more sustainable business tomorrow.
|
|
|
Download Instructions
|
Use the links on the right to select documents to download as PDF (portable document format) files. You will need Adobe Reader on your computer. If you don't have it, you can get the free download here or use the Adobe link on the right.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
![Get Adobe Reader [opens in new window]](/static/i/media/images//campaigns/icon_get_adobe_reader.gif){kind=icon}
