Life Sciences Business Change Consulting

Life science consulting is the transfer of knowledge and skills to support the delivery of projects and initiatives across the diverse functions of the life sciences industry. Life sciences is a highly specialised field, and while those working in it possess great technical skills, they may not always have the broader business skills or holistic oversight to deliver transformative projects, hence the need for expert, dedicated support from a life science consultant.

The role of a life science consultant will vary greatly from project to project and client to client. Effective life science consultants are experienced in change across the many unique functions of the life science industry, and they are therefore excellently placed to guide leaders through many types of project, from technology implementation to regulatory change and digital transformation.

Because of their specialised nature, functions in a life sciences organisation might operate in a siloed manner or lack a holistic view of the wider organisation. This can make it challenging to implement far-reaching transformation that impacts multiple user groups. Life science consulting brings dedicated oversight of an initiative to see it realised across as many functions as required, allowing life science leaders to draw on their own specialist knowledge where needed.

The life sciences industry has undergone significant disruption and innovation in recent years, and this is only set to continue in 2024. M&A activity is increasing, suggesting more confidence in the growth of the market. However, at the same time, competitiveness is higher than ever as organisations seek to develop first-of-their-kind drugs to market. In addition to this, new technologies, particularly the advent of AI, are influencing businesses to embrace new tools and ways of working to become more efficient, speed up time to market and increase competitiveness.

New technologies such as AI are driving pharma organisations to introduce new processes, tools and ways of working to keep pace with competitors and improve their own efficiency, all built on stronger and cleaner data. There is also an industry-wide drive to deliver more patient-centric healthcare, including through decentralised methods. Connecting the dots between functions is key to doing this effectively, and this is therefore another trend we are seeing.

The pharma industry is changing to become more patient-centric. This means putting the patient at the heart of all work, for example by making clinical trials more accessible and data collection more convenient. In order to accomplish this, organisations are having to review their processes, tools and product pipelines to ensure these are suitable for patient, and therefore market, needs and will enable them to remain competitive.

Life sciences organisations are by their nature large and complex, comprising many specialist teams and disciplines. This makes it difficult to quickly respond to external influences and change accordingly. Organisations that have connected teams, supported by robust data and enabling technologies will be able to deliver change more rapidly and therefore better address the challenges associated with it.

Because life sciences organisations are so large and complex, it is not easy to successfully embed change, and the risk of failing to realise desired outcomes is greater than in other industries. This is why effectively managing any change is important, whether this is done using internal resource or external expertise. The advantage of using dedicated change management is that this resource can focus solely on delivering the change across the organisation, without having other business-as-usual (BAU) priorities or a siloed approach.

The life sciences industry is built on innovation, and the organisations that develop and deliver new drugs to market the quickest will be the most successful. In order to do this, they must also be innovative in their operations and business approaches. This requires capitalising on the advantages presented by new technologies, new industry-wide initiatives and new disruptors in the market. For example, the recent rise of generative AI has seen major innovation across the industry, as organisations use it to become more efficient, data-driven and patient-centric.

New technology has enabled the healthcare industry to enhance the products and care they deliver to patients as well as their own business operations. More and more, the key to successfully leveraging new technologies is having a strong data foundation, and as a result many organisations are consolidating and streamlining their complex data architectures so that they may more easily integrate new technologies.

AI has already had a major impact on the pharma industry across the entire drug development lifecycle. From drug discovery, AI can speed up the identification of new compounds for future drugs. It can also ease approval by reducing the administrative burden that stems from the approval process. Once approved, AI can also enhance manufacturing by enabling smarter supply chains and quality control.

While AI has the potential to make many aspects of the drug development and delivery process more efficient, the complexity and ingenuity of this process means it is unlikely to replace any specialised roles in the near future. Fewer products are more regulated or important to ensure high quality than pharmaceuticals, and while it is rapidly improving, novel AI products aren’t yet accurate enough to completely replace human knowledge.

Change control in pharma is the process of assessing, documenting and monitoring adjustments to processes, tools and systems. Because the drug development lifecycle is so complex and regulated, even the smallest changes to one element of a process can have an impact on other elements. This is why it is important to have robust change control in place, so that any adjustments can be properly evaluated and approved by pharma leaders.