July 27, 2016/Aktana/Decision Support

We recently had the privilege of attending Veeva’s Commercial Summit in China, perhaps the world’s most significant pharmaceutical market. As home to the largest potential patient market and the greatest number of unique pharmaceutical manufacturers, China presents no shortage of opportunities. Plus, with more people involved in pharma commercialization in China than any other single country, the challenges faced by our industry elsewhere—better leveraging coordinated multi-channel campaigns and more effectively understanding which actions and message best serve each customer segment—take on a new level of criticality.

But with all this potential, China also faces unique challenges. Doctor practices, treatment preferences, regulations and data sources can differ significantly from other important markets. And as the Chinese market continues to undergo rapid change, understanding these unique requirements can be elusive. As a result, out-of-the-box multinational technologies often fall short of accurately reflecting the specific commercialization challenges and opportunities within China. Moreover, world-leading technologies can be comparatively expensive, often stretching the financial ability of domestic manufacturers.

Fortunately, newer technologies, such as the cloud and advanced analytics, can enable software to more usefully and intelligently reflect the unique circumstances of its users—without adding substantial costs. For example, all Aktana implementations start with a configuration exercise that translates our customers’ unique challenges and strategies into brand- and region-specific solutions, thus enabling Veeva, through CRM Suggestions and multi-channel triggers, to help customers better execute on their unique strategies.

This is truly new, and for large and complex pharma markets like China, the value is huge. Without the expense of developing custom software, we can provide a truly customized experience for pharma brands and sales reps alike, all while keeping costs in check.

Ultimately, it’s extremely impressive how technology is allowing mass customization and personalization of solutions along with the benefits that come with economies of scale. Through partnerships such as ours with Veeva, enabling the delivery of these newer technologies into the hands of key users, I’m confident the best years of pharma commercialization in China lie just ahead.