My personal selection of highlights from the #ePharma 2015 summit in NYC. The topics ranged from wearables to innovation to population health and emerging pharma business models. The highlights are from 25-26 Feb 2015

1. #ePharma 2015
The Highlights
New York City
February 24-26th
@garymonk

2. Introduction
Some unofficial images and highlights from the
#epharma 2015 conference in New York City,
with some personal commentary and opinion

3. Before we start…
Opinions are mine
I have not been sponsored by the organizers (iir
usa) although they kindly allowed me to publish
photos
My interpretations of the speakers messages
may differ from their intended ones!

4. Paul Ivans
Evolution road consulting
Paul gave an overview of the
healthcare landscape, highlighting the
lack of physician autonomy
He referenced the Merck – Practice
Fusion example of population health
in vaccines. See article here

5. Thought Leader Panel
Monique Levy (left) held the view that the golden days
of patient empowerment are over. The patient may
have unprecedented access to information but
physicians have less control. Other members of the
panel had a more optimistic view
Panelists L-R, Monique Levy, Craig Kemp, Jeremy Shepler, Tom McCourt, Jonathan
Gordon

6. Thought Leader Panel
The panel debated if barriers to innovation were
cultural or structural. I personally believe both!
‘Look across the patient journey, locate the major pain
point and focus there’ was my favorite piece of advice

7. Thomas Goetz
IODINE
Iodine is the ‘Tripadvisor’ of (legal)
drugs, replete with valuable patient
feedback or as pharma would call
them ‘Adverse Events’
It will take a forward thinking Pharma
Co to partner with him but surely this
sort of feedback is what the industry
needs?
You can find the site here

8. Value Discussion Panel
This discussion on how to offer value to customers was focused on the incremental such as
using Key Account Teams. There was a view that the pharma sales rep would be around for a
long time to come. I don’t believe this unless the role radically changes. Defenders may say
the death of the pharma rep has been looming since the early 1990’s
Panelists L-R, Bill Paquin, Erin Curcio, Heather Gervais (obscured), Nolan Castillo

9. My GI Health
• Apparently the ‘UBER for GI’
• A video showing the journey of a stool made
‘pleasant’ post lunch viewing
• An interesting digestion tracker was referenced
that measures digestive sounds
• The importance of ‘Thick Data’ as well as ‘Big
Data’
• See My GI Health here
Tom McCourt (Ironwood) and Brennan Spiegel (UCLA)

10. Physician
Networks
• Oncologists don’t tend to
interact with each locally
due to competition
• Where you train as a
doctor influences who will
connect and respond to
you
• PCPs tend to connect
locally and specialists
across the country
• Some doctors are
influential nodes, others
are ‘bridging connectors’
between specialties
• Doctors salaries vary
across the country. New
York cardiologists are
some of the poorest (if
$450k a year counts as
poor..)
Craig Kemp (Merck Vaccines) & Nate Gross MD (Doximity)

11. John Mangano
comScore Inc
John presented some very
interesting stats on wearables.
Mobile phones have 4x the
market penetration of health
tracking wearables. Are these
the future? He highlighted the
recent news wearables and
smartphones have equal
efficacy in tracking health
I can’t share his slide deck but if
you ask him very nicely maybe
he will..

12. Sarah Krüg
Cancer 101
The quote I took away was
‘Experience Based Medicine is
as important as Evidence
Based Medicine’
A great presentation despite
technical challenges, I am sure
she must have taken improv
classes

13. Peter Dannenfelser
Janssen Pharmceuticals
A plucking great presentation. Pete’s
description of innovation via his bass guitar
struck a chord with the audience (Sorry!)
His main focus was getting the basics right
in pharma marketing, being open to
transformation yet not being consumed by it
He highlighted only 23% of pharma
websites are mobile enabled
I am of the view Pharma needs to think big
when it comes to innovation but hard to
argue with Pete that they need to do the
basics right first
He highlighted social community
management will be the next focus for
innovation. I agree with him, just can’t
believe it has taken the industry so long

14. Jeremy Shepler
Novo Nordisk
Ask-Screen-Know is a Novo program that
aims to support all patients with diabetes
whether diagnosed or not, through
screening and support to staying in
control
Novo’s branded products do not benefit
proportionately from this activity so it is
very much a wellness service unrelated to
the product (please don’t make me say
Beyond The Pill!)
Most channels are digital although some
are traditional to cater for an ‘older’
audience
Interesting partnership with Michael
Stevens (V Sauce – You Tube) to educate
around Diabetes

15. Meet your future boss
The rising stars of pharma innovation
This panel of rising stars shared their opinons on innovation as well as citing some interesting
cases from inside and outside of their companies (take outs on the next slide)
Panelists L-R, David Kopp(Healthline), Erika Jurrens(GSK), Annie Singer(BMS), Ryan Billings(AZ), Greg Cohen(UCB)

16. Meet your future boss
The rising stars of pharma innovation
• My favorite example was the branded NEXIUM Facebook page. It goes where other
companies won’t and allows comments! Importance of understanding the audience (in this
case mostly women over 40) and having an informed content strategy
• Highlighted was the UCB sponsored Epilepsy community on Facebook and how a disease
state summit of patients and caregivers provided insights for a mentorship program
• Also highlighted was the ‘patient centric’ UCB Cares and how social listening is helping
understand what patients need
• Interesting BMS ‘Tell Your Story’ program where patients can submit their experiences.
Example for Yervoy
• The overall feeling from the panel on ‘wearables’ was they are over hyped and not accurate.
As an agency you would have to convince these guys any ‘new innovation’ is a key
component of an integrated program

17. Greg Barrett
Daiichi Sankyo
Greg discussed a pilot initiative in
conjuction with Partners Healthcare
It is in the area of Atrial Fibrillation
where Daiichi have a product
At the core is a ‘mobile application
focused on coaching and educating
AF patients’

18. thank you
twitter: @garymonk
linked in: www.linkedin.com/in/garywmonk
Blog: garymonk.com