Blog series #2: Pharma’s role in creating value across the healthcare system

This blog explores why collaboration between these partners is essential and how pharma can help innovations bridge the gap to unlock the system-wide adoption necessary to secure healthcare’s sustainable future.

To anchor the series in real-world experience, we spoke with multiple innovation industry leaders who are responsible for driving digital transformation and value-based partnerships

This article marks the first instalment of a three-part series, in which we explore:

1. How industry can support innovations that enable sustainable healthcare
2. The value that industry can create across the healthcare ecosystem
3. The actions stakeholders should take to make these solutions work in practice

As illustrated in Figure 1, pharma can play a critical role in advancing HealthTech innovation. By partnering with innovators and applying their unique capabilities, pharma can help tackle major barriers to product development and widespread adoption, ensuring 1) lower failure rates, 2) reduced time-to-market and 3) faster scaling for promising HealthTech solutions. View Blog 1 for more detailed insights on why pharma is well positioned to fill this role and the barriers that innovators face.

PHARMA’S EVOLVING ROLE: FROM TRANSACTIONAL TO TRANSFORMATIVE PARTNERSHIP

The relationship between pharma and healthcare providers has undergone a fundamental shift. In the past, pharma took a more opportunistic approach by providing seed capital to technology providers to help drive early-stage innovation. However, these investments were generally one-sided with limited collaboration, focusing largely on operational development rather than leveraging each party’s unique strengths and capabilities to build shared, strategic value.

Today, leading pharma companies are prioritizing more strategic partnerships for innovations that drive clinical impact related to their products e.g., supporting decision making, improving diagnosis, and enabling better patient management. A recent report from Galen Growth shows that in 2024, 36% of digital health partnerships focused on patient-centric solutions¹.  Although this is a positive step forward, the investment and partnerships are not fully embedded in the core strategy and may lack true long-term commitment and direction. Ultimately, pharma should be doing more to leverage the core strengths that have served them in effectively delivering innovative medicines to patients.

A new paradigm is emerging; a vision where pharma’s core purpose aligns with the comprehensive improvement of patient care within targeted therapeutic areas

Looking ahead, a new paradigm is emerging; a vision where pharma’s core purpose aligns with the comprehensive improvement of patient care within targeted therapeutic areas. In this future model, some companies may choose to redefine their core strategy, not just as product suppliers or innovation accelerators, but as ecosystem leaders and partners establishing long-term commitments to improve health outcomes.

PHARMA AS CATALYST: TURNING INNOVATION INTO SYSTEM-WIDE IMPACT

Pharma’s unique business model, resources, and ecosystem experience make it the ideal catalyst to enable promising innovations to reach scale and create value across all stakeholder groups.

So, what is pharma’s role as a partner to truly unlock system-wide impact?

1. Scout and select high-impact technologies – Deploy existing R&D networks to systematically identify high-potential HealthTech innovations from startups, academic spin-offs, and research institutes. This ensures early investment and partnerships in clinically relevant solutions with clear pathways to impact.
2. Apply systemic insight for market fit – Use deep market intelligence and stakeholder feedback to pinpoint clinical bottlenecks and unmet needs where HealthTech can add maximum value. Identify the optimal clinical settings, patient groups, and timing for introducing products to foster integration and acceptance.
3. Generate strategic evidence and promote adoption – Leverage clinical trial capabilities to design large-scale studies that demonstrate real-world outcomes to support regulatory submissions and reimbursement decisions. Evidence builds credibility and overcomes stakeholder scepticism.
4. Navigate regulatory & market access pathways – Apply expertise to prepare registrational & health economic data, form outcome-based contracts, and work with regulators & payers for streamlined approval and reimbursement. This transforms pilots into sustainable, reimbursed tools embedded in routine care.
5. Leverage established stakeholder networks – Engage hospital decision-makers, clinicians, patients, payers, and regulators to support all stages of the product development life cycle from product design through commercial launch to market expansion

Pharma doesn’t have to invent every new technology itself but by using its core strengths as a bridge and enabler, pharma can connect silos, de-risk adoption, and do for HealthTech what it already does for new medicines: transform promising concepts into proven, widely adopted solutions that deliver sustained impact across the healthcare system.

“Our role isn’t to do everything, but to help connect the dots…and build practical solutions around real-world bottlenecks.(Industry expert)”

CREATING VALUE ACROSS THE ECOSYSTEM

Pharma’s enabling role creates win-win outcomes for all key stakeholder groups:

For Pharma – Better clinical outcomes & sustainable growth

• Broader patient reach & access: HealthTech platforms expand patient identification and market access by e.g. identifying previously undiagnosed patients who could benefit from specific therapies, expanding the eligible patient population. A study in rare disease used a predictive model to realise a >40% increase in identification of patients eligible for a specific treatment².
• Competitive differentiation & enhanced reputation: By investing in HealthTech innovations and partnering for health outcomes, pharma companies demonstrate leadership in transforming care. This positions them as trusted healthcare partners strengthening brand reputation among patients, providers, and payers, and attracting further collaboration opportunities
• Sustainable market growth: Integrated HealthTech platforms produce robust real-world data (RWD) on outcomes, adherence, and cost-effectiveness. This not only supports regulatory and payer dialogues for faster market access (82% of EU HTA bodies want more systematic use of RWD³), but enables pharma to prove measurable value, justify premium pricing, and ensure long-term sustainable growth as healthcare systems increasingly demand value-based solutions⁴.

For Innovators – Greater success, speed, and scale

• Lower failure rate: Collaborating with pharma and providers gives innovators access to required capabilities (e.g. deep clinical insight, regulatory expertise, commercial channels, financial capital) to address major barriers and significantly improve the odds of moving beyond pilot stage to real-world adoption.
• Faster time-to-market: Pharma’s established processes for evidence generation, market access, and stakeholder engagement help innovators navigate product validation, complex approval pathways and reach live clinical use sooner
• Accelerated scaling: Leveraging pharma’s global reach, provider networks, and embedded relationships enables innovations to scale rapidly across diverse geographies and health systems, turning promising pilots into widespread, system-level impact

For Providers – Higher productivity & satisfaction

• Access to proven innovation: Pharma supports real-world evidence generation that aligns with provider needs, ensuring only validated solutions reach the point of care
• Support for adoption: Direct pharma support (including co-financing) makes deployment of new technologies feasible and practical, minimizing operational and financial strain and improving provider workflow.

For Patients – Improved outcomes & experience

• Earlier access to valuable innovations: Pharma’s investment in ecosystem and implementation gets effective new solutions to patients sooner, improving quality of care and outcomes
• Broader reach for underserved groups: Supporting system-level adoption enables wider patient populations to benefit from HealthTech faster

For Payers – Greater cost-control & risk sharing

• Investing in proven innovation: Pharma’s role in generating and sharing transparent evidence allows payers to confidently fund cost effective innovations with demonstrated value, lowering wasted expenditures
• Benefitting from system productivity: By facilitating rapid healthcare improvement, pharma enables payers to realize efficiency gains earlier, helping move beyond volume and price controls as levers for long-term cost-effectiveness

Several big pharma companies are already demonstrating how to enable HealthTech innovations that improve sustainable care. A few examples visible in the public domain include:

• Takeda is making substantial investments in HealthTech innovation as a central pillar of its growth strategy⁶. The company is embedding data, digital, and artificial intelligence across the organization to improve patient care. For instance, Takeda developed and launched “Care for One”; a digital monitoring solution for patients with Parkinson’s disease to reduce hospital visits and improve symptom monitoring⁷.
• AstraZeneca leads the field when it comes to alignment of HealthTech partnerships with core therapeutic priorities (i.e. high strategic fit)¹. It has established a Commercial Digital Health Team that works across regions and brands and builds partnerships to drive HealthTech innovation that optimises patient care pathways e.g. detection, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. This is illustrated by extensive work optimising multi-disciplinary team (MDT) care across several major cancer types, including focus on embedding digital & AI/ML tools to drive operational efficiencies and clinical outcomes⁸.
• Roche’s value-based partnerships team establishes outcome-focused collaborations with providers, payers, and technology innovators⁹. By co-developing digital tools and integrating AI-powered platforms like Navify¹⁰, Roche accelerates diagnostics and streamlines clinical workflows. These partnerships deliver measurable improvements in patient care and system efficiency.

These companies show that successfully enabling HealthTech requires dedicated organisational structures focused on sustainable care delivery through leadership, partnership, and operational excellence.

CONCLUSION: DRIVING VALUE THROUGH HEALTHCARE ECOSYSTEM LEADERSHIP

True healthcare transformation cannot be achieved through isolated solutions or incremental improvements. As this blog illustrates, the pharma industry is uniquely positioned to act as a catalyst for HealthTech innovation, moving the sector beyond traditional medication supply to strategic ecosystem leadership.

The value created through pharma-enabled HealthTech partnerships is broad and lasting:

• Patients enjoy faster access and better outcomes
• Providers gain efficiency and relief from administrative burden
• Payers achieve cost control and evidence-backed interventions
• Pharma secures sustainable, long-term relevance – not through opportunistic bets, but as the partner who sees the whole system

Healthcare’s future will be shaped by those willing to connect the dots, bridge silos, and build practical solutions around real-world bottlenecks. The companies that accept this challenge with investment, coordinated expertise and commitment will be essential partners in delivering sustainable and resilient healthcare.

HOW VINTURA CAN HELP

At Vintura, we can help orchestrate these important partnerships to ensure success. We bring deep expertise in stakeholder alignment, operational change management, and strategic transformation to support your organisation’s journey, from facilitating neutral, strategic partnerships, to designing collaborative governance and business models, to navigating the cultural shifts needed for sustainable change.

We invite you to reach out and share your experiences, challenges, and insights.  Let’s connect and feel free to reach out to Bas Amesz or Peter Blanshard. Explore how we can work together to unlock the system-wide adoption necessary for healthcare’s sustainable future.

Your perspective matters: join the conversation and help shape the path forward.

Our blogs in this series

Blog 1 for more detailed insights on why pharma is well positioned to fill this role and the barriers that innovators face.

Blog 3

Our blogs in this series

This article is second instalment of a three-part series, in which we explored:

Blog #1 How industry can support innovations that enable sustainable healthcare

Blog #2 The value that industry can create across the healthcare ecosystem

Blog # 3 The actions stakeholders should take to make these solutions work in practice

REFERENCES:

1. Galen Growth. 2024. The Pharma Race to Digital Supremacy: Why the Biopharma Sector is Banking on Digital Health Innovation. Available at: https://www.galengrowth.com/the-pharma-race-to-digital-supremacy-why-the-biopharma-sector-is-banking-on-digital-health-innovation/

2. McKinsey & Company. 2023. Treating rare diseases: How digital technologies can drive innovation. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/life-sciences/our-insights/treating-rare-diseases-how-digital-technologies-can-drive-innovation

3. Lifebit. 2025. Real world data impact on price reimbursement. Available at: https://lifebit.ai/real-world-data-impact-on-price-reimbursement/

4. WLCUS. 2025. Real-World Evidence will determine drug pricing in 2025. Available at: https://wlcus.com/rwe_decide_your_drug_price_in_2025/

5. World Economic Forum. 2025. The future of AI-enabled health: Reimagining healthcare with artificial intelligence. Available at: https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Future_of_AI_Enabled_Health_2025.pdf

6. Boston Consulting Group (BCG). 2024. A global biopharma company is leading digital change. Available at: https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/a-global-biopharma-company-is-leading-digital-change

7. World Economic Forum. 2021. Healthcare and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Available at: https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Healthcare_and_the_Fourth_Industrial_Revolution_2021.pdf

8. AstraZeneca. 2024. Good practices in lung cancer MDTs. Available at: https://www.astrazeneca.com/content/dam/az/PDF/2024/Good-practices-in-lung-cancer-MDTs.pdf

9. Roche. 2025. Partnerships and access. Available at: https://www.roche.com/about/strategy/partnership-access

10. Roche Diagnostics. 2025. About Navify. Available at: https://navifyportal.roche.com/us/en-us/about