MSD
“ WE CALL IT CONNECTED CHANNELS BECAUSE WE NEED TO BE SURE THAT THE ECOSYSTEM WE ARE BUILDING , STARTING FROM THE MANUFACTURER AND ENDING WITH THE PATIENT , IS CONNECTED ”
PAOLO MIGLIARI EXECUTIVE DIRECTO SUPPLY EXCELLENCE , MSD
Having a robust , external partner network is part of MSD ' s Connected Channels programme . " The reason we call it Connected Channels is because we need to be sure that the ecosystem we are building , starting from the manufacturer and ending with the patient , with partners , stakeholders , pharmacies and doctors in the middle , are all able to be connected with each other " Migliari explains .
Connecting these different actors must require little effort - it could be via an app on a smartphone , or a system used to manage a clinics . " It ' s so patients and healthcare practitioners can really take advantage of what we are building as an added service and can be part of that value creation as well ."
Migliari says they are ensuring data will be correctly managed and secure and will also enable patients to take ownership of the data . The architecture must have “ privacy by design ” as its core concept and data must be self-sovereign for the people using it .
“ It ' s really an environment where all the partners and stakeholders own their own data and understand how this data is used ."
Migliari emphasises that it ' s important for pharmaceutical companies to collaborate with each other . " Pharmaceutical companies absolutely must compete , but we also need to really take advantage of collaboration , within legal parameters , especially in the case of logistics . All pharmaceutical companies should collaborate to be sure that the genuine product will arrive as fast as possible to the patient ."
Collaboration will also help to reduce counterfeit products , another key aim of the aforementioned PharmaLedger . " Once we have all the pharmaceutical companies and supply chain partners on board it will really change our approach and make the environment easier to use and also more secure ," Migliari says .
He hopes the concept will become widely adopted . " The idea is great , and this digital ecosystem will be of advantage to everybody as the purpose is to be patientcentric . I believe that is an objective of all pharmaceutical companies ."
MSD ’ s digital innovation journey is the walk of the talk . It started with a good look into its own operations and infrastructure and in finding the right partners to digitalise logistics . Now it continues to evolve towards an outward focus and the creation of a common utility network which the industry can adopt , and customers and patients can benefit from . www . msd . com 17