In the Life Sciences research space, investments in technology have historically lagged behind other industries. As a result, much of the current infrastructure is outdated and fragmented, making it challenging to keep up with breakthroughs in science and technology.

As part an effort to help solve this technology challenge, Accenture, Merck and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have entered a pre-competitive collaboration to launch a cloud-based informatics platform that aims to allow Life Sciences companies improve productivity, efficiency and innovation in the early stages of drug development. Merck will be the first company to use this ground-breaking platform.

Contract Pharma spoke with Brad Michel, managing director of Accenture Scientific Informatics Services to discuss the goals of the collaboration and the main obstacles the partnership aims to overcome. –KB 

Contract Pharma: What are the goals of the collaboration?

Brad Michel: This cloud-based informatics research platform is designed to help enable pharma IT / informatics staff to rapidly deploy solutions that help researchers generate, aggregate, manage and analyze data to help advance the discovery of new drug entities.

It provides pharma researchers with access to capabilities from third party software, content and services providers via an Accenture-managed, AWS-hosted environment. It’s designed to make it easier and faster for pharma researchers to take advantage of new technologies and innovation, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, through an intuitive user interface. 

Finally, the platform brings together pharma and biotech companies within a pre-competitive environment to allow companies to help solve these issues and invest in / build the platform, creating a better solution than any one company otherwise could on their own.

Ultimately, we are trying to help our customers use technology to improve productivity, efficiency and innovation in drug discovery in research.  There are three main components:

• Platform Approach: For the first time in life sciences research, we are leveraging platform approaches that have been successful in other industries, such as the underpinning of industry-standard application programming interfaces (APIs). By creating a common underlying cloud-based platform, we can free up resources to focus on new breakthrough innovations (such as AI solutions) that can take advantage of the platform architecture and data contained within.

• Ecosystem: Because of the open standards / APIs, third-party providers – software, content and services companies – will have a lower barrier to entry, making it easier for new, small software players to introduce innovative technology, and for established players to bring new capabilities to market. This will create a two-sided market for the technology providers and pharma and biotech users of the solution, establishing an ecosystem for the delivery of innovative solutions that can be accessed and implemented quickly.  The open nature of the platform is critical to enabling this.
   
• Coalition of Customers: We are implementing the platform in a precompetitive collaboration model, supported by a coalition of customers. The coalition model will allow pharma and biotech companies to collaborate on the development of the platform and share in technology investments, allowing them to focus their time and energy on what really matters—their science and developing better drugs that lead to better outcomes for patients. The end result will be a better, more advanced solution than any one company could create on their own.

CP: What will each party contribute to the collaboration?

BM: Merck will be the first user of the platform and is the first pharma company to join the platform’s coalition. Merck will provide key insights into the development and use of the roadmap and platform to meet scientific business needs. AWS is the cloud platform provider on which the platform is being built and an active member of the coalition. AWS will be actively involved in the ongoing design and development of the platform and will also provide input to the technology roadmap and vision. Accenture will lead the continued and ongoing development of the platform. Accenture is a coalition member and will use inputs from coalition members in the development of the roadmap for the platform. Further, Accenture will facilitate the addition of new customers to the platform and new ecosystem partners on the platform.

CP: What capabilities will the new platform have?

BM: The platform will allow life sciences researchers and informatics professionals to quickly aggregate, access and analyze research data from multiple applications. Data will now be accessible through a single set of interfaces, with integrated workflow, reporting and analytics capabilities. Incorporating a modern user interface and a secure, multi-tenant environment, the platform will unify user experience elements and enable easier collaboration across the research and development (R&D) enterprise, including with external partners. Over time, the platform capabilities will continue to evolve as new releases are delivered against the roadmap, and as new ecosystem partners integrate their applications and solutions, such that the platform will become more and more feature rich over time.  

CP: What are the main obstacles that the collaboration seeks to overcome?

BM: For years, pharmaceutical companies have been faced with challenges related to legacy IT systems and disparate approaches to data management, and barriers in the implementation of innovative, new solutions as a result. Current research technology in the industry is often outdated and fragmented, to such an extent that companies struggle to keep up with the demands of contemporary research needs. At the same time, recent scientific innovation and advances have led to an explosion of available data and new data types within the scientific research process and have struggled to onboard new technologies that could fully function within the legacy environment. Accenture and Merck saw an opportunity to make a significant impact on research computing / informatics that would help accelerate the discovery and development of new drugs and therapies that will positively impact patients.
 

 

Brad Michel is a Managing Director in Accenture’s Applied Life Sciences Solutions practice and managing director of Accenture Scientific Informatics Services. He is responsible for driving Accenture’s strategy, offerings and services across the Life Sciences R&D functions, from research through late stage development, and into the early stages of commercialization, launch and patient services. Prior to this role, Brad had responsibility for some of Accenture’s largest R&D client accounts. Working in Life Sciences his entire career, Brad has a broad background in business advisory and management consulting, IT strategy and solution delivery, and outsourcing operations across Pharmaceutical R&D.