Healthcare in Thoughts from the Centre
The shift to prevention: A new ecosystem of health promotion and protection
By Elizabeth Hampson, Life Sciences and Health Innovation Partner, and Karen Taylor, Director of the Centre for Health Solutions, Deloitte
For more than a decade the NHS has faced mounting pressure from an increasing disease burden, including mental health disorders, lifestyle-related issues, obesity, vaccine-preventable diseases, and chronic conditions like heart disease and cancers. Deloitte’s recently published report, ‘The shift to prevention: A new ecosystem of health promotion and protection’ outlines a transformative vision for the future of the NHS, that involves shifting from a reactive, treatment-focused model to a proactive and preventative approach. Developed in partnership with Google and The Royal Society, the report envisions a future centred on a new prevention ecosystem, focused on interventions that extend health lifespan and prevent prolonged period of illness before they occur. Our blog explores the bold paradigm shift that is needed, the transformational potential of new innovations and the need to scale up the foundational preventative strategies that are currently under-utilised or inefficiently implemented.
Adopting electronic product information (ePI): improving patient engagement while reducing energy, carbon emissions and paper use
By David Rakowski, Sustainability and Climate Lead Partner, and Emily May, Life Sciences Research Manager, Deloitte
A patient information leaflet (PIL) is the tightly folded paper information document that accompanies all prescription medicines. Data from the US and UK reveals widespread limited engagement with PILs, including simply throwing them away, with 40 per cent of people never reading them. Of those that do read them, over half struggle to understand them.1 Substituting PILs with electronic product information (ePI) is an opportunity to support an industry-wide digital shift, benefitting the planet, patients and healthcare systems. Deloitte, supported by experts within the pharmaceutical industry, has recently published a report, Moving to ePI: Reductions in energy, carbon emissions and paper use, detailing the results of a life-cycle assessment (LCA) analysis quantifying ePI's environmental benefits.2 This blog explores the limitations of PILs, examines the ePI solution and highlights the environmental benefits based on our report findings.3
The end of global pharma products? Framing the consequences of global uncertainty
By Hanno Ronte, Partner, Deloitte MCS Limited
Geopolitical uncertainty and different regional approaches to drug approval and reimbursement regulations are challenging the traditional model of developing and commercialising global products. While most pharma companies currently operate with separate US and international commercial arms, supported by global functions, the differences of how regions approve and pay for medicines is only growing. In this blog, Hanno Ronte, partner at Deloitte with extensive experience shaping pharma strategies and a deep understanding of global market dynamics, explores how pharma execs can balance global coordination with regional responsiveness to navigate this evolving landscape. The blog examines the forces driving this change, its impact on business models and how to build resilience across key functions.
Clinical Data Harmonisation: From Silos to Insights
By Sam Karbaron, Senior Manager, and Toi Neibler, Senior Manager, Deloitte
In the rapidly evolving world of pharma research and development (R&D), data has increasingly been recognised as a strategic asset. A successful drug is a testament to the rigorous data management throughout its development. Despite the vast possibilities that clinical data holds, its usability remains a challenge that prevents pharma organisations from tapping into its full potential. This blog explores the significant advantages, including improved data quality, consistency, and enhanced analytical capabilities, of developing harmonised clinical data products and how evolving data management practices and modern platforms are breaking down silos, enabling accessible insights and faster, data-driven decisions.
How can medtech help move the connected care industry forward?
By Emily May, Manager, Centre for Health Solutions, Deloitte
The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) – the network of interconnected medical devices, software applications, and health systems and services - is rapidly transforming healthcare delivery, diagnostics and patient management through valuable data and insights. As we showcase in our 2030 Life Sciences and Healthcare Prediction on Realising the potential of the IoMT, advancements in digitalisation and connectivity are expediting the IoMT’s potential, paving the way for more patient-centric, efficient and connected monitoring and care delivery. Our US Center for Health Solutions have recently published a report exploring how medtech can help move the connected care industry forward. This blog explores the key findings of that report, examining the opportunities and challenges for executives revealed by their survey of medtech companies and healthcare providers. We cover the key barriers to adoption and highlight the importance of collaboration and alignment between stakeholders to unlock the full potential of this industry.
Balancing the projected, multiple benefits of GLP-1s with safety, access and affordability considerations
By Emily May, Research Manager, and Ditto Antony, Research Analyst, Deloitte
Our recent report, ‘Be brave, be bold’, the 15th in our Measuring the return from pharmaceutical innovation series, found that GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) agonist drugs (GLP-1s) are driving unprecedented growth in R&D returns, offering new hope for patients struggling with obesity, diabetes and a growing number of other diseases. Our comprehensive research, which focuses on the late-stage research and development (R&D) pipelines of the 20 top biopharma companies by research spend, shows that GLP-1s are targeting a range of conditions that are currently rife with high levels of unmet medical need. However, the growing prevalence of these diseases also presents significant challenges, particularly around access and affordability. In this blog, we explore the rapid growth of GLP-1s in the late-stage R&D pipelines, their growth across multiple therapy areas of high unmet medical need, and insights from UK prescribers to assess access and affordability issues.
Powering the consumer health revolution
By Angela Bowden, Consumer Health Lead Partner, and Emily May, Life Sciences Research Manager, Deloitte
The future of health is not a distant prospect; it's happening now. Empowered consumers demand personalised and effective healthcare experiences, and this, combined with rapid technological advancements and disruptive innovation, is revolutionising the health and wellbeing landscape. We explored these shifts in our Life Sciences and Healthcare 2030 Predictions campaign, specifically how Consumers are the CEOs of their own health and The rise of a dynamic consumer health market.1,2 To further explore these themes, we recently hosted ‘Powering the Consumer Health Revolution’ which brought together industry leaders to discuss the evolving consumer health industry. This blog shares our key learnings from the panel session including reflections on the shift towards a preventative, empowered consumer model as well as the opportunities to be seized and challenges to navigate in this new dynamic environment.
Deloitte Tech Trends 2025: A life sciences & healthcare perspective
By Emily May, Manager, and Karen Taylor Director, Deloitte Centre for Health Solutions
Deloitte’s 16th flagship technology report, Tech Trends 2025, paints a future where AI isn't just a tool, but an invisible engine that makes everything work smarter, faster, and more intuitively, ‘like magic, but grounded in algorithms’. It equates the ubiquitous nature of AI, to electricity or the internet, predicting that AI will become fundamentally woven into the fabric of our lives, so that we stop noticing it. Our colleagues working across the life sciences and healthcare (LSHC) industry are seeing first-hand the industry’s rapid evolution, driven by technological advancements that are reshaping how companies research, develop, and deliver treatments and devices for healthcare professionals, organisations and patients. They have therefore developed a LSHC perspective of the Tech Trends 2025 report, Navigating the Future of Technology in Life Sciences and Healthcare examining how technology is being implemented and the implications for the LSHC industry. This blog explores these LSHC trends.
Value-driven life sciences CIOs: How will you charter the course for tech investments?
By Niyati Nagar, Director, CIO Advisory & Tech Transformation in Life Sciences (Europe) and Amit Kumar, Senior Manager, Life Sciences
The role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) is undergoing a fundamental transformation. No longer confined to managing cost centres and ensuring operational efficiency, CIOs are stepping into the spotlight as strategic partners, co-creating business value and aligning technology with core business strategies. Deloitte's CIO Leadership Study highlights how CIOs are increasingly taking on responsibilities that extend beyond traditional IT.1 This shift is particularly profound in life sciences. Our deep experience supporting life science CIOs as they navigate these transitions and harness the power of emerging technologies provides unique insights into their crucial role in driving business growth and competitive advantage through strategic technology alignment - a topic we’ll explore further in this blog.
Be brave, be bold: Measuring the return from pharmaceutical innovation
By Emily May, Manager, and Ditto Antony, Analyst, Centre for Health Solutions
Since 2010, our Measuring the return from pharmaceutical innovation report series has analysed biopharma R&D productivity. Our first report focused on the potential return on investment for 12 large-cap biopharma companies based on their late-stage pipelines. Over time, our cohort has expanded and, since 2020, has encompassed the top 20 companies by 2020 R&D spend. This week, we released the 15th edition of this series titled Be bold, be brave, which reveals a notable increase in the internal rate of return (IRR) to 5.9 per cent for 2024, continuing the upward trend from 4.3 per cent in the previous year. Our report provides unique insights into the critical drivers of this performance. This week’s blog highlights insights from our analysis, the key trends shaping the productivity and efficiency of biopharma R&D, and the bold actions needed to sustain and improve performance.