EyeForPharma, Philadelphia – Paul Simms, Chairman of eyeforpharma kicked off his annual conference with a call to arms: We have an innovation gap. We invest in R&D at twice the rate of competing industries. But we haven’t made the progress we want to.
No single innovator is going to create that change. We need alignment on a mass scale and to do more than we’ve done before.
Simms challenged the attendees to listen over the next two days for opportunities to deliver on the conference theme of: being trusted partners.
We need to form collaborations, he said. Our value as pharmaceutical companies is more than just our medicines. We can act and advocate from the patient perspective.
Simms is personally involved in The Aurora Project. It was created about a year and half ago when a group of people got talking about patient centricity. They realized that there was no benchmark for the industry on what that actually means. So, that team decided to create one.
In their first survey, they received 2,000 responses and used those to define specific deficits – dark corners where focusing on the patient is still something people are reluctant to do.
The Aurora Project today is 110 volunteers working to shine a light in those dark corners and help the industry become more patient centric.
About the Author:
As Managing Director of Innovation and Insights for Syneos Health Communications, Leigh is responsible for building and scaling a global team of healthcare experts who together help life science leaders better understand the complex lives, influences and expectations of their customers. Specifically, they uncover actionable insights that fuel empathy and creativity; lead co-creation events that let marketers learn from peers, trends, and new possibilities; and help clients identify the most valuable and useful new customer experiences to create.
Leigh has worked with Fortune 1000 companies to craft their digital, mobile, social and CRM strategies for nearly 20 years.She’s worked for category-leading agencies in retail, public affairs, B2B technology, and higher education. Prior to moving to Syneos Health Communications, she held several leadership roles at our largest agency, GSW. There, she founded an innovation practice fueled by the zeitgeist and spearheaded digital and innovation thinking across the business.
Leigh has taken a special interest in complex healthcare products that can change lives in meaningful ways. She was recently a strategic lead on the 3rd largest launch in pharmaceutical history: Tecfidera. Before that she had keys roles with Eli Lilly Oncology, Abbott Nutrition, Amgen Cardiovascular, and Eli Lilly Diabetes.
A critical part of Leigh’s work is trends and new ideas. Every year, she convenes a group of trend watchers from across our global network to identify the shifts most critical to healthcare marketers. This year, she led over 250 experts to experts to focus on the most important changes in the commercial, consumer, marketing, digital and healthcare landscapes. (See reports at trends.health)
Leigh is a sought-after writer and speaker. Recognized as one of the most inspiring people in the pharmaceutical industry by PharmaVoice and Top 10 Innovation Catalysts of 2017 by MM&M, Leigh also was recognized as a Rising Star by the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA) for her overt passion, industry thought leadership and significant contributions in new business, strategy and mentoring.
