Introduction

Published August 6, 2025

Pharmaceutical companies are sitting on vast troves of untapped data potential, with approximately 80% of their data remaining unused, leading to suboptimal decision-making and innovation paralysis. This was the key message delivered by Ramji Vasudevan, Head Pharma & Life Sciences, Altimetrik and Dr. Jan Felix Meyer, Head of Insights and Analytics at Takeda, who outlined a strategic framework for transforming how pharmaceutical organizations leverage their data assets.

The Data Utilization Challenge

Vasudevan began by highlighting what he calls the "streetlight effect" in pharmaceutical data management—companies looking for solutions only where data is easily accessible, rather than where the most valuable insights actually reside.

"More than 75% of pharma executives don't trust the decisions that are made," Vasudevan explained, pointing to a fundamental problem in the industry. This lack of trust stems from incomplete data access, concerns about missing critical information, and ultimately leads to significant delays in innovation.

Another critical challenge is what Vasudevan termed the "value chasm"—the gap between generating insights and taking action based on those insights. Many data programs produce valuable information that never translates into operational changes or strategic decisions.

The Three Vectors of Data Value

The presentation outlined three critical vectors that must converge to extract maximum value from data initiatives:

1) Data Maturity: Creating a single source of truth where data is findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable.
2) Analytics Maturity: Ensuring analytics are business-focused and KPI-driven rather than technology-led.
3) Enterprise Scaling: Moving beyond siloed experiments to organization-wide adoption with proper governance.

What we really want is to go towards the North Star—predictable ways of taking the data, looking at it, having analytics driven out of it and scaling it," said Vasudevan.

From Tools to Solutions: Takeda's Journey

Dr. Meyer shared Takeda's practical experience implementing these principles, noting that the challenge wasn't about acquiring tools but using them effectively.

"It's not what tools we buy. It's how the tools are being used," Meyer emphasized. "When we build tools and create solutions, at times the trust that the business requires when they read the report or look at the data isn't there."

Meyer described how Takeda transformed its approach by focusing on three key areas:

• Data Products: Creating real-world data products the business can work with, rather than system-specific copies
• User-Centered Design: Simplifying interfaces to match how business users actually think about problems
• Self-Organizing Teams: Empowering business owners to drive development with agile methodologies

"If we build things and it's not being used, nobody cares. There's zero value," Meyer stated, highlighting the importance of business adoption.

Building a Unified Intelligence Platform

Rather than creating thousands of disconnected dashboards, Takeda developed a single, cohesive platform that grows organically as teams contribute to it. This approach allows the company to address complex, cross-functional business questions that traditional siloed analytics can't solve.

"We put a very strong emphasis on design," Meyer explained. "AI is not only revolutionizing the space of machine learning and data science, but also design. Because now you don't have to come up with an interface that's very difficult to operate."

Key Takeaways

1) Data trust is fundamental: "More than 75% of pharma executives don't trust the decisions that are made," highlighting the need for better data governance and accessibility.
2) Focus on business problems first: "It's not what tools we buy. It's how the tools are being used," emphasizing that technology alone cannot solve organizational challenges.
3) Bridge the value chasm: Address the gap between generating insights and taking action by designing analytics that directly support decision-making processes.
4) Design for actual users: "If we build things and it's not being used, nobody cares. There's zero value," underscoring the importance of user-centered design in analytics tools.
5) Build a unified platform: Rather than creating thousands of disconnected dashboards, develop a single, cohesive platform that grows organically as teams contribute to it.

In order to get you the highlights of Pharma USA faster, we are using generative AI technology to summarise the transcripts of the sessions. The conference organiser is checking the summary for accuracy. If you have any feedback about the summary and the post-event report, please contact lucy.fisher@thomsonreuters.com.

"A partnership of 45 members might seem too large, but I've noticed emerging partnerships across sectors that quickly address issues that previously would take longer."

The Venture Capital Perspective

Haider Alleg, General Partner at Allegory Capital, brings a venture capital perspective to the discussion. He emphasizes that the biotech investment model cannot simply be applied to digital health: "We tend to copy in digital health the biotech model, like 'let's build something that Novartis wants and Novartis will buy it.' And that doesn't happen."

Alleg sees tremendous potential in digital health, which he describes as "the last frontier of regulated industry where anything that we put at it is amazing." However, he notes that startups often struggle to scale due to the high cost of patient acquisition, suggesting that pharma companies could play a more significant role in helping these companies reach millions of patients.

Building Partnerships That Last

The panelists agree that successful partnerships require clear alignment on objectives from the outset. As Richard Cassidy advises:

"Look at all those partnerships you have, and if you can't link them back to your business goal and your partner's business goal, stop doing them."

For Nipun Jain, the key challenge is "aligning what is in it for everyone" and ensuring that startups understand that pharma companies are not the ultimate customers for their digital health solutions.

Adrian Gheorghiu emphasizes the importance of governance and shared goals in sustaining large consortia, while Haider Alleg calls for better connection between corporate venture capital in pharma and commercial objectives.

Key Takeaways:

1) "The science is embedded in the industry. The more there will be VCs coming up pouring investors' money and de-risking your initiatives, the more we are going to impact patients." - Haider Alleg

2) "If you can't link partnerships back to your business goal and your partner's business goal, stop doing them." - Richard Cassidy

3) "Digital health is the great equalizer where technologies can provide that edge to healthcare systems to cover the gap." - Nipun Jain

4) "Stay truthful to health impact. The collaborations can grow around that, and whatever side effects like making money or building reputation will come as well." - Adrian Gheorghiu

5) "Partnership is driven by looking at market forces and dynamics and being more proactive, absorbing risk in a different way compared to how big pharma operated in the past." - Adrian Gheorghiu

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