Dive Brief:
- Joe Jimenez, CEO of Novartis, spoke to McKinsey about his company's focus on serving the needs of an aging population with regenerative medicine, digitization and technology, and a focus on outcomes-based medicine.
- Jimenez made the point that in 10 years, there will be eight billion people on the planet and 50% of them will be over the age of 50.
- Novartis spent $10 billion on R&D in 2014, and that number is only going to increase.
Dive Insight:
In an interview with McKinsey and Co. earlier this week, Jimenez emerged as a future-forward visionary, focused on meeting the needs of a rapidly aging population by investing heavily in R&D and innovative pharmaceutical development, with a focus on regenerative medicine. In addition, Jimenez explained why it's critical to focus on digitization, first in terms of using bioinformatics to leverage massive amounts of genomics data in order to identify targets, while also using digital information to track and improve patient outcomes.
All of these goals are compatible and realistic, according to Jimenez, however, Novartis will need to commit to building out its staff of top-notch researchers, increasing its data-analytic capabilities and partnering with technology companies—such as Google with whom it has partnered to create a contact lens that tracks glycemic levels in diabetics—to move all of its innovative initiatives forward.