Is Pharma’s business model like McDonald’s? Doing things over & over again without innovation? McDonald’s is famous for its Hamburger University, a training facility at the McDonald’s Corporation global headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. It instructs high-potential restaurant managers in restaurant management. More than 5,000 students attend Hamburger University each year and over 275,000 people have graduated with a degree in Hamburgerology. Sound familiar? Pharma’s training has been on similar lines – hire people continuously and put them through the grind of mugging up essentials of drugs for diseases that the particular company sells. While the McDonald’s model is ideal for its business of replication, it has outlived its utility in healthcare and drug companies are in danger of being reduced to mere suppliers of drugs to new digital platform businesses unless they learn to innovate.

Dr. Peter Velev, CEO of CredoWeb discussing Digital in Pharma with MedicinMan

The digital revolution is the fourth industrial revolution. It changes models, processes and whole public sectors. In many reports you will find that, in terms of digitalization, pharma is just next to the public sector, as least digitalized. Pharma just started late. There are many reasons for that – it is one of the most regulated industries with lots of sensitive data involved and many ethical aspects. But the slowed down digitalization has a lot to do with some subjective reasons. Adopting digital technologies requires changing existing models which requires a different mindset – and this is difficult to achieve. Nowadays, in the situation of a global pandemic, we see that digital communication is not only necessary to be successful but it is a must in order to adapt to the New Normality.

Pharma Digital Transformation – Leadership challenges

“Real digital transformation occurs when courageous leaders align goals...

Digital Therapeutics: New Frontiers in Healthcare

“If we look at major trends, people are living longer, on average, so there’s a rise in chronic diseases associated with aging. Meanwhile, healthcare workers are in short supply, and physicians and nurses do not have enough time for patients. Yet everyone has powerful computers in their pockets that give them access to technology, education, and information. Put all that together, and it’s the perfect moment for digital solutions to come to the market, change behavior, and enhance health outcomes at scale” - Bozidar Jovicevic, Global head of Digital Therapeutics, Sanofi