European Life Sciences Companies Look to Enhance Analytics Capabilities

ISG Provider Lens™ report sees life sciences companies in the region using technology improvements to support a wide range of initiatives, including R&D

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--$III #AI--European life sciences companies are increasing their investments in analytics and other technologies to speed up research and development and drive patient-centric innovation, according to a new report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.

The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Life Sciences Digital Services Report for Europe finds life sciences companies in the region also interested in using analytics to support marketing and sales efforts and optimize supply chain operations. MedTech companies, in particular, are looking to service providers to assist with digital transformations.

“Digital transformation is key in the European life sciences industry’s ongoing efforts to transform itself and find new paths to innovation,” said Barbara Florschuetz, ISG partner based in Germany. “The industry is looking to digital initiatives to drive operational efficiencies and to regain long-term sustainability and resilience.”

The report sees a growing use of digital technologies in Europe to access healthcare, with patients using platforms to book appointments, access virtual health consultations and manage their health remotely. Many European consumers are embracing technology to track and maintain their health and engage with treatment, and they are willing to share healthcare data if they get value in return.

COVID-19 has been a driving force behind recent and ongoing regulatory changes in Europe that will impact every pharmaceutical, biotechnology or MedTech company that currently sells or sponsors products in the European Union, the report says. For example, the Europe Medicines Agency (EMA) has created a collaborative approach for managing future health crises across the European Union, and in the U.K., the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has created a new delivery plan that benefits from a more agile approval process instituted during the pandemic.

The report finds technology innovations such as improved connectivity, mobile enablement, IoT and AI have changed the MedTech landscape. Medical devices are now an integrated element of the overall data lifecycle, and MedTech companies are looking for providers that offer not only innovation in devices themselves, but also expertise in regulations, cybersecurity and quality and compliance.

The pharmacovigilance and regulatory affairs functions, both areas of technological innovation prior to the pandemic, continue to drive demand for increasingly sophisticated digital services. Leading providers in this space demonstrate strength in using AI, natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to capture and process information from unstructured data. Providers’ regulatory affairs offerings, meanwhile, use technology to collect and disseminate regulatory intelligence to support smart filings, and to maintain and report on quality and compliance.

In addition, collaborations between traditional IT providers and contract research organizations (CROs), which often include representation from industry and academia, continue to grow as the leading providers in these areas leverage their combined expertise, the report says. The emphasis on improving patient outcomes by combining deep domain expertise with digital enablers is seen among leading providers.

The increased reliance on digital technologies is associated with other trends across the industry, the report says. There is growing demand for cloud services to support the needs of a growing remote workforce and the need for additional computing power. Changing business needs have also elevated the demand for software-as-a-service solutions that can turn large volumes of data into business intelligence.

The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Life Sciences Digital Services Report for Europe evaluates the capabilities of 22 providers across two quadrants: MedTech Digital Transformation Services and Pharmacovigilance and Regulatory Affairs Digital Transformation Services.

The report names Capgemini, Cognizant, TCS and Wipro as Leaders in both quadrants and Atos, HARMAN, LTTS and PPD as Leaders in one quadrant.

In addition, HCL and Tech Mahindra were named Rising Stars—companies with “promising portfolios” and “high future potential” by ISG’s definition—in one quadrant.

A customized version of the report is available from LTTS.

The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Life Sciences Digital Services Report for Europe is available to subscribers or for one-time purchase on this webpage.

About ISG Provider Lens™ Research

The ISG Provider Lens™ Quadrant research series is the only service provider evaluation of its kind to combine empirical, data-driven research and market analysis with the real-world experience and observations of ISG's global advisory team. Enterprises will find a wealth of detailed data and market analysis to help guide their selection of appropriate sourcing partners, while ISG advisors use the reports to validate their own market knowledge and make recommendations to ISG's enterprise clients. The research currently covers providers offering their services globally, across Europe, as well as in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, the U.K., France, Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, the Nordics, Australia and Singapore/Malaysia, with additional markets to be added in the future. For more information about ISG Provider Lens research, please visit this webpage.

A companion research series, the ISG Provider Lens Archetype reports, offer a first-of-its-kind evaluation of providers from the perspective of specific buyer types.

About ISG

ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 800 clients, including more than 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300 digital-ready professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry’s most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com.

Will Thoretz, ISG
+1 203 517 3119
will.thoretz@isg-one.com

Kate Hartley, Carrot Communications for ISG
+44 (0)20 3457 6403
kate.hartley@carrotcomms.co.uk