In a recent interview, Novartis CEO, Vas Narasimhan, told Wired magazine that when the pandemic hit, the pharma giant’s digital investment areas that had “previously seemed like nice-to-have experimental areas that may transform us in five years” suddenly became “things that were fundamental.”
It would seem that Novartis is not alone in this realization. Results from last year’s Pharma Manufacturing Smart Pharma Survey generated concern that the industry’s enthusiasm for the digital “revolution” was waning. But as we are all painfully aware, much has changed in pharma and the world since 2019. The pandemic put pharma’s digital progress to the test and this year’s optimistic survey results indicate that perhaps some of the industry’s commonly mentioned roadblocks were based on antiquated concerns.
And it’s possible that the pandemic will continue to drive digital change in the industry. Almost all pharma manufacturers surveyed agreed that the pandemic will alter the industry’s perspective towards digitalization, with 65 percent specifically believing that the pandemic will increase the industry’s use of technology to collect and analyze data in real time.
