NINESIGMA WHITE PAPER OPEN INNOVATION STRATEGIES IN THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY How six leading healthcare companies are leveraging Open Innovation to achieve their innovation goals By: Stephen Clulow, Director of Healthcare Program Management, NineSigma Europe The healthcare industry is facing a period of unprecedented change. In this white paper we investigate the different Open Innovation strategies companies are using to adapt to this change. Our research has shown that healthcare companies are using Open Innovation to access new technology, deliver process improvements, create added value products and develop new business models. We introduce the concept of a company Open Innovation Profile. This is the number of programs the company runs in each of these four areas. We show the Open Innovation Profiles for six healthcare companies. Each company s profile reflects their business needs, the strategies they are using to access external innovation and their level of experience with Open Innovation. The Open Innovation Profile model can be applied to any company, in any industry. We believe that all organisations should consider their Open Innovation profile to determine whether their investment in Open Innovation aligns with their near-term needs and their long-term business strategy. NineSigma, Inc. 23611 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 320 Cleveland, Ohio 44122 +1 216.295.4800 www.ninesigma.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Stephen Clulow Director of Healthcare Program Management Stephen Clulow is Director of Healthcare Program Management for NineSigma Europe. A life sciences PhD, Stephen has 20 years of experience in small biotechs and large pharmaceutical companies in the UK, Europe and the USA. Stephen has extensive experience of building creative climates, managing innovation and leading change. He has led internal innovation, open innovation and crowd-sourcing programs in multinational companies and start-ups. These initiatives generated novel solutions to long-standing industry problems in science, technology, IT and automation in the healthcare sector. Stephen was recently awarded a Masters in Innovation, Creativity and Leadership by City University, London. His dissertation research investigated what motivates people to participate in online innovation initiatives. Stephen is passionate about innovation and believes that web and mobile technologies will play an important role in future innovations in the healthcare industry. Page 2
Innovation Drivers in Healthcare A t NineSigma we are always interested in assessing the emerging trends in the healthcare industry. We work with a number of major healthcare companies. We help our clients understand emerging trends, build for the future and stay ahead of their competitors. The healthcare sector faces a number of challenges (Fig. 1). We have an aging population, healthcare is becoming increasingly sophisticated, and costs are rising. It is estimated that healthcare will cost 20% of GDP in the USA by 2015. Governments and health insurers are putting downward pressure on prices. Simultaneously the regulatory costs to ensure safety, ethical compliance and environmental care are increasing. Innovation is essential to overcoming these challenges. Fig. 1. The Challenges Driving Innovation in the Healthcare Sector» Rising costs and falling margins» Budget cutbacks» Increased regulation» Shorter patent life and generic competition» The need to identify winners and fill product pipelines» Speed to market and sustaining competitive advantage» Emerging new business models and new entrants Page 3
Four Applications of Open Innovation in Healthcare W e conducted an analysis of our Open Innovation work with healthcare companies over the last five years. It gave us interesting insights into innovation trends in healthcare. It showed that companies are adopting different innovation strategies to adapt to this period of unprecedented change in the industry. We found our technology and partner search projects for healthcare companies could be grouped into 4 categories: PROCESS Improving processes, adding new capabilities, internally or by partnering FOR EXAMPLE:» R&D: lead isolation, lead optimisation, in vivo testing» design» manufacturing» online monitoring» analytical capabilities» low-cost production» safety studies» identifying high-tech CMOs & CROs BUSINESS MODELS Innovating revenue generation, moving from sales of drugs, diagnostics or devices FOR EXAMPLE:» generating revenue from benefits to patients wellness» linking healthcare to web and mobile technologies» improving motivation and compliance» use of big-data to inform healthcare decisions, monitor treatment choices and health outcomes» environmentally-friendly approaches TECHNOLOGY New technologies for all aspects of healthcare FOR EXAMPLE:» new molecules» discovery technologies» improved delivery» formulation» bio-availability» product stability» devices and implants» clinical models» clinical trial assessment ADDED VALUE PRODUCTS Additional product features or services that go beyond expectations FOR EXAMPLE:» home diagnostics» personal diagnostics» health and wellness monitoring» remote monitoring devices that monitor usage, patient location and patient activity» programmable, wearable delivery devices BUSINESS VALUE Page 4
Over the last five years we have seen a sustained demand for technology and process innovation (Fig. 2). There was an upswing in Open Innovation for process improvement as companies sought to manage costs and access new capabilities through partnerships. There has been a steady increase in the number of projects related to the later stages of product development and launch. Fig. 2. NineSigma Healthcare Open Innovation Projects 2008-2013 Grouped by Category These trends reflect the changes in the industry: a desire to access innovation from smaller more innovative companies, the rising costs of product development, the need to fill product pipelines and ensure the success of existing late-stage projects. Recently, there has been an increasing demand for innovation to create more added value products and new business models. Products or services with additional features can be more useful and more valuable to their users (patients, doctors, care workers etc.). As such they can demand a price premium and increase revenue. Currently, the opportunities for added value products in healthcare are being driven by the electronics, high-tech and mobile sectors. As an example consider an asthma inhaler. Traditionally these are simple, stand-alone devices that the patient uses when they are experiencing breathing difficulties. Companies have added mobile connectivity, GPS and data capture capabilities to inhalers. Now the device can report when, how often and where the patient uses it. This gives the doctor precise information about how much drug the patient is taking, how severe their condition is, whether it is improving or deteriorating and whether their asthma attacks are associated with certain locations or times of day. This significantly improves the understanding of the patient s condition and their treatment. Page 5
The pressures on the healthcare industry and the opportunities presented by new technology are encouraging companies to move away from a reliance on the traditional business models of making and selling drugs, diagnostics or devices. As an example, one change that is happening in the sector is a move away from treating sickness with drugs or implants to trying to keep people well for as long as possible. The focus on wellness offers opportunities for new products and new business models. Could we change from diagnosing disease to monitoring wellness? Can we shift this monitoring from the hospital or surgery to the home? Can we influence people s motivation to live healthy lives, eat well and exercise? How can traditional healthcare companies develop business models that monetise these opportunities? Five years ago most of our work was with the Research, Development or Manufacturing functions in healthcare companies. Today an increasing number of projects involve Business Development (BD) functions. Often this is in collaboration with Research or Development or both. Recently, we have started interacting with BD groups alone. This trend illustrates that key business people in the sector believe Open Innovation can help them develop added value products and new business models. Strategy and Experience Influence a Company s Open Innovation Profile O ur analysis showed that healthcare companies have different Open Innovation Profiles. Their Open Innovation Profiles reflect their different business needs, the different strategies they use to access external innovation and their state of maturity with Open Innovation. The experience of six companies provides a good illustration of the range of Open Innovation Profiles. All of these companies are large pharmaceutical companies with other business interests such as a consumer healthcare division or a diagnostics business. Their innovation profiles are shown in (Fig. 3). Page 6
Fig. 3. The Open Innovation Profiles of Six Healthcare Companies Analysis of 108 NineSigma projects. The diameter of each circle is proportional to the number of projects. Company A: Starting in Open Innovation Company B: Improving Internal Capabilities Company C: Moving to Product Innovation B C A B C C Company D: Open Innovation in All Business Areas Company E: Technology for New Business Models Company F: Innovating Processes via Partnerships D D E F F D D E F F Company A s profile is typical of a company starting out in Open Innovation. They are running Open Innovation projects to source technologies and technology partners externally. With experience companies become more comfortable with Open Innovation and the successes it brings. They often expand their activities and start to use Open Innovation to deliver process improvements by integrating new capabilities into the company. Their profile becomes like Company B with a balance of Open Innovation for technology search and process improvement programs. Companies that are comfortable with accessing technology externally and integrating this into their product development processes move on to develop Added Value Products through Open Innovation as demonstrated by company C. They seek new technologies and partners that are complementary to their existing capabilities. This allows them to develop feature-rich offerings that can command a higher margin in the market place. Some of the healthcare companies we work with like to acquire or license Page 7
the technology. Others enter into collaborations, partnerships or joint ventures. Some companies do both, choosing the business model that is the best fit for each situation. A number of companies we work with are experienced Open Innovation practitioners and use Open Innovation to innovate in all four areas, like Company D. They choose where to use Open Innovation according to their experience, product roadmap and strategic needs. The profile will vary from company to company. For a given company the profile will vary from year to year as the needs of the business change, however Company D s profile is typical. Companies A to D illustrate a fairly typical journey from the early beginnings in Open Innovation to an experienced practitioner. This journey isn t right for every organisation and some companies take different approaches. For example, Company E decided to use Open Innovation to access technology for internal use and for use in creating new business models. Examples of this include traditional pharmaceutical or device companies partnering with high-tech industries to offer web, 3G or GPS enabled healthcare solutions. Other strategies exist. Company F s focus has been to use Open Innovation to streamline internal processes and access partners that provide state-of-the-art technology in non-core business areas. Open Innovation has enabled them to establish a preferred partner network that they can access on demand. Company F uses this approach to achieve high quality results and satisfy fluctuating demands without incurring the on going expense of maintaining in-house capabilities. This strategy has reduced the costs of their internal processes and allowed them to benefit from access to the latest technology without having to make repeated investments in expensive and rapidly evolving areas of science. Open Innovation Becoming Routine in Healthcare Sector Healthcare is not as advanced in its use of Open Innovation as other sectors, such as the FMCG or Food and Drink sectors. But some healthcare players are catching up rapidly. At NineSigma we believe that the healthcare sector has become much more receptive to Open Innovation, cooperative alliances, partnerships and JVs with external specialists over the last decade. We believe this trend is set to continue. As healthcare companies seek innovative solutions to the challenges they face, Open Innovation will become part of the routine toolbox that they turn to when they ask How can I advance this project more quickly and more effectively? Page 8
What is Your Open Innovation Profile? Have you considered your organisation s Open Innovation profile? How well does it align with your current needs? Will it enable you to deliver your three-year strategy? When we work with organisations we like to deliver quick-wins. At the same time, we help companies develop an Open Innovation approach that fits their organisation and helps them deliver long-term business value. Balancing the two delivers the most benefit from Open Innovation. Your Company???? Addressing major healthcare issues with Grand Challenges:» Grand Challenges create a unique opportunity for healthcare companies to identify advances in all four quadrants simultaneously. A Grand Challenge is a mechanism to identify transformative technology development opportunities. By definition, it is broadly scoped to address a complex issue, and often the solution is created by the combination of Process, Business Models, Technology and Added Value Products. The healthcare industry is uniquely positioned to leverage Grand Challenges because of the clear societal benefit which also enhances the company s leadership amongst stakeholders. Since all of us are stakeholders as consumers of healthcare, patients, and healthcare professionals, the public forum of a Grand Challenge is a particularly effective open innovation approach. We Would Like to Hear From You At NineSigma we believe that no company is an island and that partnerships and collaborations can be transformative. We have extensive experience helping companies start, improve and perfect their Open Innovation initiatives.» NineSigma healthcare clients have engaged in multiple Grand Challenges. The Head Health Challenge sponsored by GE, NFL, and Under Armour is a good example of a Grand Challenge that encompasses solutions from all four quadrants. Other Grand Challenge examples that address multiple quadrants are: GE Healthymagination Breast Cancer Challenge, IAVI, and Scientists without Borders. We welcome the opportunity to discuss how a focused Open Innovation approach can help your company. Contact us at www.ninesigma.com/contact-us» To learn more, visit www.ninesigma.com/open-innovationservices/grand-challenge Page 9