Late expectations

It’s fair to say that certain aspects of our industry have taken a while to change – in some cases several centuries! Notably among these are public image, internal demographics, understanding the totality of ‘end users’ and, more recently, cyber adaptation.

Perhaps all these roads lead to the all-encompassing digital zeitgeist, which pharma has gradually and, in the past few years, rapidly seized. Indeed, through modern connectivity the ultra-modern ‘patient 2.0’ has risen, the gravitas of gender parity has been profoundly highlighted and the majesty of difference has become undeniable.

Caricatures are difficult to alter but our industry is making progress and, as a result, its bedrock of life sciences advancement is also finding new gears. To paraphrase; ‘very little can happen in the fields of equality, diversity, inclusion and patient engagement for centuries and then decades can unfold in a couple of years’.

Getting closer to the very people we serve, and breaking bread with them as equals, while also making them stakeholders in the development of therapies is, in many ways, the promised land. It engenders trust, provides the touchpaper for transparency, reboots clinical trial design and, mercifully, encourages cross-sector collaborations with the NHS.

This recalibrating of the pharmaverse, and everyone’s place in it, is truly fascinating and many of the features in this month’s PharmaTimes orbit around it.

From a purely selfish point of view, these complex relationships also make my job much more interesting.

Enjoy the magazine.