The Internet of Things (IoT) is getting personal. Wearables, ingestables, even implantables – devices that not only help us with our fitness, but can monitor and manage disease and its treatment – are right around the corner. And where the IoT goes, money follows. In this case, Big Pharma smells opportunity.
But while these new consumer doodads get all the press, health-related IoT technologies are only the tip of the iceberg for the Digital Transformation hitting the pharmaceutical industry, as it struggles with a turbulent business landscape. “There are very few blockbuster drugs,” explains Eric Pilkington, EVP Digital Strategy at McCann Health North America. “The pharma companies are trying to figure out what to do. The competitors are the generics: identical and cheaper. The pharmas have to provide value beyond the drug itself.”
In response to this shifting environment, pharmas are looking to move to a range of value-added services under the moniker beyond-the-pill – and most of those new services are digital. “Beyond-the-pill is a logical and inevitable path forward for all,” reports Joseph Jimenez, CEO of Swiss healthcare giant Novartis. “Creating value by embedding products into a holistic offering with the aim to improve patient outcomes and provide tangible competitive advantages.” Such holistic offerings include telehealth services, wellness programs, and improved chronic disease management over patients’ lifetimes.
Read the entire article at http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbloomberg/2014/08/15/digital-transformation-moves-pharma-beyond-the-pill/.
Image credit: e-Magine Art
