Looking back a few decades, pharmaceuticals used to be one of the most admired industries in the world.  More recently trust has eroded. Many consumers believe pharma puts profits ahead of people.

And why shouldn’t they? Technology becomes twice as powerful every two years, but the number of new drugs per Billion US$ of research & development spend has been trending downwards for a very long time.

How can the healthcare industry improve its reputation while driving innovation and delivering new solutions for patients? On stage today at the Health Lions at Cannes Lions, Shwen Gwee, Head of Digital Strategy, Global Clinical Operations at Biogen shared his three-step approach that healthcare companies should take to innovate and develop ideas to better connect with modern consumers.

Break It Down

Meet the Needs of Other People

Identify the real problem. People don’t always do what they say they do – and traditional market research must be paired with real life observation. Use empathy to think and act like your audience to help solve their problems.

Build It Up

We Can’t Solve Healthcare Alone

With so many diverse business segments in health, we need to look outwards for continuous improvement. Has somebody outside of your industry solved your problem already?  Look beyond your peers for inspiration.

Make It Better

Healthcare Innovation is in the Hands of Startups

Move away from the old model of “launch and wait” and embrace the iterative process. Don’t be afraid to deliver more MVPs – minimum viable products. Learn pivot your product to how customers are using it, because you can’t pivot your user base.