Nearly 200 life sciences industry leaders gathered in Zurich, Switzerland in September for the annual IQVIA TechIQ conference. This latest in the ongoing series of technology-focused events featured over 30 key speakers from major pharma companies such as Roche and Novartis, as well as tech industry leaders Microsoft and Salesforce.

Participants in the two-day event experienced real-life examples of how businesses are addressing today's industry challenges, as well as taking part in breakout sessions led by IQVIA SMEs focused on Customer Engagement, Information Management, Compliance and Safety, Regulatory and Quality.

Plenary sessions on Day 1 included:

• Powering health with Connected Intelligence
  AJ Ploszay, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer – IQVIA Technologies led this first session with an overview of IQVIA Connected Intelligence™. AJ cited examples of the way the environment is rapidly evolving, evidenced by the acceleration of scientific innovation, the driving of decision-making by real-world evidence, and the new forms of engagement by empowered patients. At the same time, the proliferation of data sources and the logarithmic increase in data volume are making intelligent decisions more difficult. AJ explained how Connected Intelligence, by combining data, technology, analytics and expertise, is helping life sciences organizations turn insight into action and thereby increase speed to market, prevent risks, increase revenue and reduce costs.
• Advancing health through collaborative innovation
  Concluding his presentation with an acknowledgement of the need for trusted partners to enable IQVIA to realize its mission of advancing healthcare, AJ introduced Microsoft's Patricia Obermaier, Vice President, US Health & Life Sciences. She discussed how advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning are helping IQVIA understand and leverage data more effectively than ever, and why Microsoft is proud to be an integral part of this mission. Patricia noted that in a world of 8 billion people, 4 billion lack access to care, even as medical information doubles every 73 days. She explained how the Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare is engaged to address such pressing global issues as decoding the immune system and drug discovery. The next IQVIA partner to speak was LaShonda Anderson-Williams, EVP & CRO, Global Health & Life Sciences at Salesforce. In 'Fueling the Life Sciences Organizations of Tomorrow', she cited the ways current disruptions such as rising consumerization in the form of wearable devices, the growth of personalized medicine, and the shift to a new model of HCP engagement will dictate the ability of organizations to succeed in the future. LaShonda explained how better data-driven connections among stakeholders will serve to meet patient needs, and reviewed Salesforce solutions such as Customer 360 and Salesforce Genie for Health.
• Digital biomarkers in schizophrenia
  Martin Collyer, Global Head, Orchestrated Patient Engagement and Senior Advisor Brian Kelly, both of IQVIA, joined Dr. Klaus Peter Kammerer, Global Clinical Program Leader, Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH to discuss how digital biomarkers can both enhance the health measurements we have today and pioneer new measurements tomorrow, and may enable healthcare to move from a reactive to a preventive approach. While a traditional biomarker refers to something that can be measured to reliably and accurately indicate the presence and severity of a disease or condition, digital biomarkers are objective and quantifiable physiological and behavioral data that are collected and measured via digital devices, such as portables, wearables, implantables, and digestibles. For example, changes in gait and speech, loss of automatic movements, and slowed movement can be digitally measured to indicate the presence of nervous system disorders, such as Parkinson's disease. IQVIA is currently working with partners to integrate wearables to generate evidence and intelligence to help ensure patients and caregivers receive the services they seek.
• Accelerating innovation with technology
  Sanjay Chikarmane, Chief Product Officer, IQVIA led the audience through an overview of how IQVIA is achieving its Technology mission to digitize the life sciences ecosystem to enable transformative operating models for customers and patients. By building upon years of experience with the Human Data Science Cloud, these models act to transform the site and patient experience to accelerate clinical trials, operate seamlessly in an omnichannel world, employ automated digital processes driven by embedded insights, and simplify, automate and integrate SRQ processes and systems. Sanjay reviewed IQVIA's comprehensive set of SaaS products and Tech-enabled services and how they map to clinical, commercial, and post-market needs for solutions related to sites and sponsors, patient engagement, data and analytics, customer engagement, and SRQ.

Neil Martin revolutionized Formula 1 racing by applying mathematical and business modelling techniques to strategic decisions. Neil's approach to motorsports elected to embrace uncertainty, rather than ignore it as inconvenient or unlucky. Today, software he designed and developed, or that was derived from his applications, is used by over half the F1 grid. Neil's presentation focused on the use of data to drive strategic decisions, illustrating how in life sciences, as in F1, the proper use of analytics can provide multiple routes to finishing first.

Day 2 Plenary sessions

• Rising to the challenges our industry faces
  Alistair Grenfell, IQVIA President, Europe, Middle East, Africa and South Asia opened by noting the uneven post-pandemic recovery and economic instability across markets. While European Rx volume is improving, average monthly sales for innovative launches dropped 27% compared to pre-COVID levels, and the pandemic's impact on health systems continues to challenge the speed of recovery. Impacts on patient care include over 100M instances of post-COVID conditions worldwide, while patient backlogs for treatment have increased. Alistair believes that policies for a sustainable healthcare system will dominate health system agendas, noting that the challenge of squeezed margins continues to affect the life sciences industry on a global scale. He proposed that digital commercial model transformation will enable companies to win faster while spending less. As an example, he cited IQVIA Next Best, which has shown 32% increase in rep productivity on key actions, with reduced cost.
• Commercial Transformation – Novo Nordisk
  Maziar Mike Doustdar, Executive Vice President, Novo Nordisk International Operations gave the second plenary presentation on day 2. His organization spans 194 countries across 7 regions, serving 501 million people with diabetes. He explained how Novo Nordisk IO has embarked on a Commercial Transformation journey in three steps: the first, by creating a vision of superior customer engagement based on multichannel engagement, customer intimacy, and empowered orchestration with a data-driven mindset. The second was identifying and prioritizing the building blocks required to reach the vision, including performing a gap analysis vs. the vision, the creation of an umbrella of projects, and evaluating the 'white spaces' needed to close the gap. Third was the creation of market-fit roadmaps to achieve the vision while measuring performance. Key learnings to date include the need for business-led change, that efforts be cross-functional, that white spaces need to be identified from the bottom up, and that continuous change management is necessary.

Breakout sessions on Day 2 focused on how IQVIA solutions address a specific business case for current clients. The Tuesday morning track included:

• Customer Engagement: 'Integrated meet and exceed needs: How to deliver an integrated customer engagement experience' with Andrea Bean from Vifor, Eric Doucet from Pierre Fabre, and Hartmann Estruch from Zambon
• Information Management: 'It's all About the Data. Every Interaction, Every Journey. It all Starts with Data' with speakers from Bayer, Galderma and Organon
• SRQ: Peer to peer discussion: Transforming the safety, regulatory and quality experience, with SmartSolve clients from Merz and DiaSorin Tuesday afternoon the track featured:
• Customer Engagement: 'Transforming the Customer Engagement model with best-in-class data and technology' with speakers from Roche and Bayer discussing Go-To-Market transformation and Incyte + EEFAM on Virtual Meetings
• IM: 'Analytics powering the enterprise' with Takeda on SIMs and 'reimagining Incentive Comp with GSK
• Commercial Compliance: 'Transforming a necessity into the ultimate partnership between Commercial Operations, Brand, and Compliance' featuring AstraZeneca on Engage and Leo Pharma and Novartis on ITR
• Clinical Technologies: 'Optimizing Patient & Site Engagement in Clinical Development & Beyond' with Roche on Patient Engagement initiatives and AstraZeneca on patient engagement in commercial. This session also included a 'fireside chat' on eConsent.

The closing Keynote speaker on Day 2 was Bertalan Mesko, MD, PhD, a medical futurist bringing disruptive technologies to medicine and healthcare. In his address, he posed the question, "Where is science fiction in healthcare?" Dr. Mesko posited that even as other industries embrace futuristic technologies, healthcare lags. He cited the example of a patient taking a self-driving car to a medical appointment, at which the care experience would be the same as in years past. He believes there are multiple reasons for this reticence, including healthcare not being open to technical innovation. He also noted that a cultural transformation is underway as patients become more involved in their care, and recommended that patients be integrated into the design process at the highest level.