In today’s era, commercial environment is getting harsher as companies are facing modern business challenges and fierce competition. Businesses often need support for meeting companies’ goals and objectives, and the consultants are the right hand of businesses which includes the whole industries. This article highlights the world’s largest transforming industry; “Life Sciences & Healthcare” Consultants roles, responsibilities, and growth aspects. Life Sciences are the vast industry in the area of business, which is growing faster than ever. Various industry challenges leave Life Sciences, Biotech, and Pharmaceutical firms increasingly in the spotlight as they tread the fine line between delivering life changing value to consumers amidst the backlash of being one of the profitable industries overall. Emerging markets are becoming more valuable for Life Sciences firms. And to be successful, the companies need a rapid shift from a marketing and sales focus to an access-driven commercial model.
Plethora of Challenges for Life Sciences and Healthcare
The life sciences sector faces some hurdles that can affect the industry scenario in the imminent future. While most organizations are attempting to counter the rise of generic drugs, the generic market advances to grow and is supposed to reach global profits of $283 billion by 2018 as per the latest analysis. The primary problem lies with unregulated and developing markets, with the lack of government control. Also, the sale of illegally manufactured under patent drugs in low-income countries without regulation, remains a major problem for global pharma firms. As regulatory authorities are making stringent requirements for more precise and detailed data during approval processes, companies are required to sustain comprehensive patient and product data along with improved data acquisition and supervision processes. With the growing use of electronic data capture systems, cloud computing, and data sharing, the necessity for improved systems capable of securing companies’ network from cyber-attacks and data leakage has also heightened.
Growing focus of government in both developed and emerging markets, to enact pricing legislations to minimize pharmaceutical spending is one of the significant concerns for life sciences industries, globally. This has emphasized the need for proposing innovative pricing models in markets to develop breakthrough therapies which will ensure the desired profitability.
Consultants: Business Partners for Transformation & Growth
A consultant is a professional with expertise in a particular domain and therapeutic areas. The consultants advise clients with their strategic decision to develop winning strategies in a dynamic global market, at every life cycle of the stage, solving complex issues and helping clients create lasting value. The consultants apply scientific thinking to solve complex business problems, often with immediate effects and tangible impacts.
A consultant is the backbone of company with the deep knowledge, which injects “Multi Vitamins” to obtain results, with multiple clients & projects, for growing their business in the corporate world.
A consulting firm outsources their services to the customer’s businesses, fulfilled by the experts who are generally Ph.Ds or postgraduates associated with the consulting firms. For example, the pharmaceutical firms routinely outsource their clinical trials to neutral third parties. With the help of consultants, clients solve their strategic problems in various sectors including R&D projects. Businesses seek consultation from a particular strategy team according to their background of challenges. There are two types of consulting corporations that mesh completely with the Life Science background.
Strategy Consulting Firms: Strategizing Life Sciences Organization’s Business Growth
The Strategy Consulting companies work in Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Medical Products, Pharmacology, Biotechnology, Medical Devices, New Emerging Technology, and Research and Development strategies. As a consultant they work in a team serving large company clients to solve market dynamics and regulatory demands. Consultants help their customers to manage Research and Development, enter new markets, improve operations with delivering better value for patients, and reduce the cost and complexity of operating systems.
Contract Research Organizations
Contract Research Organizations provide their assistance to the Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical, and Medical Device industries in the form of analysis, and research services outsourced on a contract basis. CROs support foundations, research institutions, and universities, in addition to governmental organizations and play a significant role in learning how life-changing drugs get to patients. Strategy firms usually hire PhDs and MDs at the post-MBA position of Associate but CROs are more research-focused and often do work in the clinical sciences that has been outsourced by different organizations. The consultants then work on various projects for the client which can differ from project to project. Contract Research Organizations mainly hire researchers and scientists, who are specialized in clinical trials services and can offer their customers the expertise of moving a new drug or device from its conception to FDA/EMA marketing approval. With the consultants in place, drug sponsor doesn’t need to maintain staff for these tasks.
The Life Sciences business requires planning for the “next wave.” There will be more demand to present real-world evidence of positive patient outcomes, value pricing, reimbursements, market access, and marketing. There are new stakeholders who will have an influence and will require a more collaborative customer model that involves all of the critical decision makers. The life sciences industry is set to tackle diverse opportunities as well as newer challenges in recent years. Along with the conventional strengths of the industry, companies will also crave to be more adaptive and innovative to counter regulatory and consumer demands which in turn are instigated by the technological advances in the field and global scenarios.