Veeva : Building a Data Foundation for Precision Engagement

Life sciences companies have amassed a great deal of data in recent years and add more with each passing week. Their challenge now is to build data systems that can draw on this trove of information and support more agile, personalized engagement strategies. To do that, companies are learning to better connect their data, use advanced analytics and, ultimately, embed real-time insights and customer intelligence into their workflows. Speakers at Veeva's Europe Commercial & Medical Summit shared the paths that they have been pursuing, their successes to date, and the challenges that lie ahead.

"Data and analytics have moved from being an aspirational objective to becoming a ticket to play in this space," said Mircea Cubillos, vice president for strategy and commercial leader of hematology EMEA at Janssen, in the data & analytics track's keynote session. "We need to maximize data and embrace new digital tools to keep the fluidity in our conversations."

"We speak a lot about personalized medicine," Cubillos added, "but we need to speak more about the concept of personalized interaction and how we make the most of those interactions. There's a big 'why' behind this: It's quite evident to everyone that we need to provide a meaningful experience to our customers throughout their interactions. To achieve that, we need to collectively bring additional insights and connected data. I'm convinced that whoever masters that experience will win in this space."

"Data and analytics have moved from being an aspirational objective to becoming a ticket to play in this space." - Mircea Cubillos, vice president for strategy and commercial leader of hematology EMEA, Janssen

Collecting and connecting data better

For Cubillos, the challenge is to have clean, accurate data, and connect it to other data sources to support increasing investments in artificial intelligence. "We need to obsessively search for the best data, with the highest quality," he said. "We need to feed our algorithms with the right input. We all know that if we input the wrong content, we will have the wrong output."

At Novartis Gene Therapies, the foundation for personalized engagement rests on gathering the right data and then doing three key things, said Elodie Privat, its sales analytics and operations lead: Understanding the data, organizing the data and building trust in it.

In the panel "Operationalizing Data and Analytics for Precision Engagement," Privat said that by connecting data across Veeva CRM, Veeva Vault PromoMats and Veeva Vault MedComms, Novartis has been able to better educate its healthcare professionals (HCPs) on early diagnosis. "When the right data foundations are in place," she said, "different data sources can be integrated into a data warehouse so that data is connected and updated in real time. Then you can deliver meaningful insights internally and added value when interacting with HCPs."

"When the right data foundations are in place, different data sources can be integrated into a data warehouse so that data is connected and updated in real time. Then you can deliver meaningful insights internally and added value when interacting with HCPs." - Elodie Privat, sales analytics and operations lead, Novartis Gene Therapies

Real-time intelligence, better analytics

Scientific information once took weeks or months to reach the people who needed to have it. Now, scientific experts are increasingly using social media to share and respond to new medical information. Pharma companies need to track this and be able to react in a far more agile way.

"We used to say that real-time data was the future, and I think the future is happening now," said Cubillos. "We need to understand better networks, we need to understand better influencing maps. We want to hear who's saying what in different channels so we can customize our messaging platforms to address real concerns in a timely manner. That's the only way to have meaningful conversations, and I think that's also the best way to add value to our customers."

Companies like Janssen collect real-time customer intelligence from multiple data sources and systematically analyze it to improve engagement. Cubillos' colleague Valerie Alleger, EMEA director of data & analytics strategy, spoke about how analytics are changing the way that sales reps gather and use data. Reps had been used to using a variety of dashboards to do their work, but that is no longer realistic or practical, she said. Analytics can help companies bring an integrated view of the customer for their reps and help them determine the most effective steps to connect with an HCP, optimizing customer journeys in sequence.

"We're not just talking about volume of interactions and type of interactions and content," Alleger added. "We're also talking about what to do first and what to do next. What is the optimal sequence? What triggers the biggest engagement?" She noted that some systems are now using artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) to learn from questions posed by reps and the actions they take.

"We're not just talking about the volume and type of interactions and content. We're also talking about what to do first and what to do next. What is the optimal sequence? What triggers the biggest engagement?" - Valerie Alleger, EMEA director of data & analytics strategy, Janssen

Applying analytics to data can have benefits beyond better field rep interactions, said Alexandre Giraudon, business intelligence & commercial data director at Pierre Fabre. He believes that information from the field should also be shared with marketing teams to help them refine the content they create, guide the development of new assets, and perhaps end the production of assets that are not having an impact. "If you do so, it will also bring a very strong added value for the field people," Giraudon said, "because they will feel that the data they are providing is being used and given back to them in a useful way so that they can improve their performance and their interactions with HCPs. I think you have to create a virtual cycle with this test-and-learn approach."

Driving precision engagement with embedded insights

Testing and learning are leading some companies to perhaps the most valuable use of data and analytics: Embedding insights into their workflows in real-time.

This is the model for Mika, a German start-up that is using data to develop personalized content to monitor and coach cancer patients. "About 80% of what physicians communicate to patients is lost when the patients actually get home," said Gandolf Finke, who founded Mika in part because of cancer cases in his family.

Mika uses patient-reported outcomes, data from wearables and advanced machine learning technology to personalize a needs-based content journey that allows patients to better deal with the problems they are facing. "A person aged 60 with breast cancer logging in on Friday night might have very different informational needs or general expectations than a young testicular cancer patient who is logging in the morning," Finke said in a special deep-dive session at the summit.

Mika was the first oncology app to qualify for a prescription code in Germany, and the company uses Veeva Link and Veeva OpenData to find physicians likely to use digital tools and also to learn what marketing resonates with them. "What are the messages that work?" Finke said. "How many times do we need to contact them? We are learning a lot through data and analytics: We know we need three to four touch points per physician to make sure that anyone who's interested actually converts into a real prescriber." While this approach has helped the young company to gain a "significant footprint" in the market, Finke said that it needs to gather more data. "There's a lot to be learned about the right messaging and the processes inside practices, clinics, larger clinics, smaller clinics, university clinics, where we're still at early days," he said.

"We are learning a lot through data and analytics: We know we need three to four touchpoints per physician to make sure that anyone who's interested actually converts into a real prescriber." - Gandolf Finke, Founder, Mika

Advanced analytics ahead

Veeva knows that there remains much more to be done in connecting data with advanced analytics to support precision engagement. That's why we are expanding Veeva Link to over 20 therapeutic areas, extending OpenData to 21 EMEA countries while adding demographic and public claims data, and building a data science hub in Europe focused on advanced analytics. These tools, and more, will be there for companies as they work to personalize their approaches to HCPs.

Janssen's Cubillos believes these are key steps for the future. "Whoever masters the personalization of interactions will have a huge advantage," he said. "And if we can do that in a very agile way, we will be unstoppable. That's the best way to serve our customers and the purpose that drives us every day."

Learn more about real-time customer intelligence.