Why Adaptive Capacity May Define Long-Term Success

This past December, thought leaders in the pharma trade space converged at the W Philadelphia for Informa Connect’s Trade & Channel Strategies to dive deep into various topics. Those included channel strategy, distribution, integrative pharmacy models, and the overall future of the pharma industry.

With Pharmaceutical Commerce providing boots-on-the-ground coverage, the editorial team attended a multitude of sessions, including the following:

• “Navigating Disruption in the Pharmaceutical Channels” (keynote)
• “From Tradition to Transformation—Evolution of Channel Strategies to Improve Patient Access”
• “DSCSA Serialization—Real-World Applications and Challenges in the Post-Implementation Era”
• “Winning in the Age of Generics and Biosimilars—Strategies for Market Access and Growth”
• “Optimizing GTN Strategy—Balancing Channel Economics and Market Access”

Each of the sessions offered a distinct look into the industry, and Bill Roth, the general manager and managing partner of IntegriChain’s consulting business, and an editorial advisory board member and contributing columnist for Pharma Commerce, successfully set the tone for the three-day event. This event marked the sixth year Roth delivered the keynote, a presentation which was a culmination of 100-plus hours of work and research.

Roth began by sharing what he believes to be the single-most important characteristic of pharma company long-term survival and ultimately, thriving: the concept of “adaptive capacity.” Roth noted:

• Environments always change, including product archetypes
  and their mix.
• Adaptation incorporates many sub-traits. For what purpose do we vertically integrate? New entrants are emerging, often ubiquitously.
• Natural selection acts on variation, as solely one version of a retail pharmacy no longer exists.
• Perfect specialization fails eventually, as noted by the fact that pharmacy benefit managers are feeling the impacts of the recent volatility in pharmaceutical pricing.

Roth noted that several macro factors need to considered: what’s not changing; a regulatory overview; what’s changing; what might change; and how a company can prepare to thrive.

“It’s difficult to be a futurist,” he said. “Because what I’ve come to realize is that people don’t like what you say when it affects them in a negative way. I don’t say things to make it a negative way. I just see this as the world that I see coming.”

The editorial team also conducted video interviews with various key opinion leaders, including Roth, Cheryl Allen, and Thani Jambulingam, PhD.

For the latest in conference coverage, please visit pharmaceuticalcommerce.com/latest-conference.