Innovation is critical, but it’s also complex. In the highly regulated, data-intensive world of Life Sciences, success requires more than a digital budget or interest in emerging technologies. It demands a thoughtful, business-driven approach that aligns with the unique operational and regulatory needs of the industry.
Knowing how to innovate is key. But with way too many options to consider, Life Sciences companies can often be drowned by all the noise; either refusing to innovate because of perceived complexity, choosing the wrong path, or have experienced diminished returns from prior attempts at innovation.
In our previous blog in the series, we covered why innovation is hard in Life Sciences and what to do about it. We even gave some tips on how to proceed. Now, we’re going to go into each tip we made in more detail, giving more depth into how Life Sciences companies can ensure effective innovation that drives success.
Here’s what Life Sciences organizations need to do to effectively innovate to deliver business outcomes and stay ahead in a competitive landscape:
Remember, not all innovation is equal. And not all of it is relevant. With a constant flood of new technologies and ideas, it’s easy to lose focus or invest in initiatives that don’t move the needle, or become outdated in a matter of months (like so many AI solutions). Effective innovation means identifying and prioritizing the opportunities that will create the greatest business and patient value. That means focusing on what supports core objectives like faster product release, better patient outcomes, or improved supply chain resilience.
Key to this is creating structured ways to evaluate innovations, such as internal use-case scoring, technology readiness assessments, or targeted discovery workshops with cross-functional teams.
A good example of this would be a Generics manufacturer that drives their innovation initiatives under one central digital innovation team, reporting to the CIO to align all initiatives and make sure that they fit the overall IT strategy and architecture.
Don’t let technology dictate strategy. This is one of the most common missteps. Real innovation starts with a clear understanding of the problem to be solved e.g. inefficiencies in batch release to blind spots in clinical supply visibility. Only by defining clearly what needs to be solved can the correct innovation take place to address the challenges undermining success.
When innovation is driven by business needs, Life Science organizations will find that:
Too often, innovation can steam ahead without goals, metrics and purpose being aligned. Or they remain fluid, leading to confusion and disappointment when innovation doesn’t generate the results that were expected.
This approach keeps efforts grounded and ensures that new tools or processes are meaningful, scalable, and supported across departments.
Another example would be a mid-size family-owned pharmaceutical company that defined their digital strategy based on their corporate strategy 2030, encompassing all elements from drug development to digital factory to ESG.
Most large Life Sciences companies have been running SAP for many years. They already have powerful enterprise platforms, extensive process documentation, and vast stores of data. But these assets are often underutilized and therefore not generating the returns that are expected.
Some believe that successful innovation means starting from scratch. But this is wrong. In reality, as we’ve experienced, innovation is a ticket to:
By building on existing systems and data, Life Sciences organizations reduce risk, improve supply chain efficiency, and increase patient outcomes.
An example worth thinking about is a large international pharmaceutical company that is currently introducing SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) to leverage their corporate heterogenous data for real insights on all enterprise functions like R&D, Clinical Supply, Supply Chain, Manufacturing etc.
Life Sciences is not a one-size-fits-all industry. Standard enterprise tools can miss the mark in areas with specific compliance or scientific requirements like GMP manufacturing, clinical supply chain orchestration, or document traceability.
To innovate successfully, Life Sciences companies need to identify the gaps that are present in the market, as well as in their processes and services. Quite often, the low-hanging fruit is the easiest to find and the best place to start.
A great example would be the Cell & Gene Treatment Orchestration that was co-innovated by Tenthpin with SAP technology. There are no standard processes and solutions available when it comes to cell therapies. So, there was a clear gap for a cell and gene treatment solution that fit the new area of patient centric treatments.
Another example would be a Biotech start-up that decided to implement SAP CGTO to scale-up their manufacturing and distribution capabilities as key pillar for their commercialization.
In a rapidly evolving industry, sometimes the right solution simply doesn’t exist yet. In these cases, innovation becomes an act of creation, not just selection. Life Sciences organizations that lead the market are those willing to:
Let’s take an example. Almost all Life Sciences companies have been running SAP for many years, but sometimes the existing SAP standard can be insufficient for their needs and a new standard solution for Life Sciences is required. That’s when defining a new standard becomes a necessity.
This approach requires more investment and coordination, but can offer the high returns that boost business and patient outcomes. Such innovations can set the pace for the rest of the market.
Another example of this would be a successful Biotech company that redesigned their business processes and SAP S/4HANA template to accommodate their product portfolio switch from small molecules to individualized therapies.
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Taking the leap into innovation can lead to benefits that go far beyond your Life Sciences company; they bring better outcomes for patients too. Here’s what to expect when you innovate successfully: