Research & Development productivity and the innovation deficit

Pharma’s traditional strategy of placing big bets on a few molecules, promoting them heavily and turning them into blockbusters worked well for shareholders for many years. However, its productivity in the lab is now plummeting, as it switches its attention from diseases that are relatively common and easy to treat to those that are much more complex or unusual.

The ‘Innovation deficit’ has enormous strategic implications for the industry as a whole. Many pharmaceutical companies need to decide what they want to concentrate on doing, and identify the core competencies the activity will require. Those that regard R&D as a core element of their business will have to make fundamental alterations in the way they work.

We believe that, if the industry is to become more innovative and cut its R&D costs, four features will be vital:

• A comprehensive understanding of how the human body works at the molecular level
• A much better grasp of the pathophysiology of disease
• Greater use of new technologies to “virtualise” the research process and accelerate clinical development
• Greater collaboration between the industry, academia, the regulators, governments and healthcare providers

PwC’s pharma consultants can help reduce R&D time and cost and help improve global cross-functional performance

With many of our consultants drawn directly from Pharma R&D, we have expertise in reducing both the time and cost in R&D through integrated resources, portfolio, and project, financial, and R&D Key Performance Indicator (KPI) management and reporting, while supporting key business decisions and sustained performance improvement,.

We have extensive experience in helping improve the performance of global cross-functional R&D teams achieve key milestones, and in optimising stage-gate, project governance, and core R&D processes. We understand how to manage and sustain change in the R&D environment.

In addition to optimising the actual R&D processes, our global tax R&D specialists are well equipped to review such costs to optimise tax savings.

• Research & development services
• Integrated research & development operations and business planning services
• Research & development compliance services
• Virtual models/collaborative R&D
• Complexity management (process and product)
• Cost management and working capital reduction
• To evaluate the benefits of new technologies, evaluate future scenarios to improve R&D efficiency
• Portfolio management and valuations

• Quality by Design (QbD) Services
• Clinical trial management
• Internal audit services
• Efficiency improvement and cost reduction services
• Pharmaceutical sample-management compliance services
• Technology transfer
• Tax efficiency
• Sustainability
• Asset management