Strategic Alliances In Healthcare

While I was in Japan earlier this month, Chiba City, Chiba University, and Novo Nordisk launched a trilateral agreement to prevent obesity. As part of our company-wide effort, we will work together for the next three years to develop and implement measures to prevent the growing prevalence of obesity in children and adults. The launch of this agreement was timely as one of the key themes when meeting colleagues in Tokyo and speaking with government officials, in my capacity as EFPIA - European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations President, was the need for more private-public partnerships. Why are these partnerships important? I'll point to at least three reasons. To defeat serious chronic diseases, we will need: 1. Systemic change - and that change will only come with an 'all-of-society' approach where we can mobilise the private and public sectors. 2. Local interventions based on local context - as the example in Chiba City. 3. Ambition loops to bring even more innovative solutions to the table.

A 12-year-old girl in Vietnam has been declared cancer-free after fighting an aggressive form of leukemia - a victory that would have seemed impossible just years ago. She had exhausted conventional treatments, including a bone marrow transplant. When options ran out, hope came from a cutting-edge therapy: CAR-T, a “living drug” that transforms a patient’s own immune system into a precision weapon against cancer. What makes this breakthrough even more extraordinary is global collaboration. Her immune cells were harvested locally, sent across borders to Taiwanese specialists for genetic reprogramming, and returned to her body to hunt down the disease. Science, expertise, and care converged across countries - and lives were changed. This story is a lesson for healthcare and leadership alike: bold innovation, relentless perseverance, and seamless cooperation can turn the impossible into reality. In our work, in our teams, in our lives, the greatest breakthroughs come when we combine vision with courage, and knowledge with collaboration. #Healthcare #Innovation #GlobalHealth #Oncology #Leadership #Collaboration #Breakthroughs #PatientCare

$10,500,000,000. That’s the size of Pfizer’s new oncology partnership with Innovent Biologics. But the real story isn’t the headline number... it’s how global drug development is being restructured in real time. $650,000,000 upfront. Pfizer and Innovent just signed a strategic collaboration spanning 12 oncology programs focused on ADCs and multispecific antibodies: → Innovent leads development through Phase 1 → Pfizer takes over global late-stage development and commercialization → Both companies will co-develop and co-commercialize select assets in the U.S. and Europe The structure matters. Innovent contributes discovery speed, translational science, and rapid early clinical execution. Pfizer contributes global scale: regulatory infrastructure, pivotal development, and commercialization. This is no longer just “Big Pharma licensing Chinese biotech.” It’s a fully integrated R&D model where China increasingly becomes the front-end innovation engine for global oncology pipelines. And the timing makes sense. ADCs and multispecific immune-engaging antibodies are now among the most competitive areas in cancer therapeutics. Pfizer is doubling down after Seagen. Innovent is positioning itself as a global oncology platform, not just a regional biotech company. The strategic shift is becoming impossible to ignore: Early innovation is globalizing. Clinical development is decentralising. And the traditional biotech geography map is being redrawn. #oncology #biotech #pharma #CGTweekly

Over the past weeks, headlines have again reminded us how fragile the global context remains. Escalation in the Middle East, the continued war in Ukraine, disrupted trade routes and rising transport uncertainty are no longer distant geopolitical issues, they are part of the operating reality healthcare systems face today. In this environment, healthcare systems are learning a hard truth: reliability matters as much as efficiency, and often more than price. When uncertainty rises, the question shifts. It’s no longer just “can you supply?” It becomes “will you still be there when it gets hard?”. Clinicians and healthcare leaders have lived the consequences of fragile supply chains over recent years. Shortages, substitutions and delays do not stay on spreadsheets. They surface in operating rooms, wards and already overstretched teams at precisely the moments when resilience matters most. This is why supply chain resilience deserves a more nuanced, healthcare‑centered conversation. What has become clearer to me is that supply chain resilience is not about where a company is headquartered or the flag on its logo. An American MedTech company may manufacture predominantly in Europe. A European one may rely heavily on Asian components. What truly matters is how deliberately the supply chain has been designed, governed and prepared for disruption. As a result, reliability has become a core element of differentiation not as an abstract concept, but as a practical enabler of healthcare continuity. The organizations that have earned trust during recent disruptions didn’t do so by chance. They made deliberate, and often uncomfortable, choices such as: - Diversifying manufacturing and critical suppliers - Building flexibility into logistics and transport - Holding inventory where failure has clinical consequences, not just where spreadsheets optimize turns - Connecting procurement, operations, regulatory strategy, quality of care and ESG into a single system view This shift also has implications for procurement and tender design. The most robust decisions increasingly ask questions like: - How resilient and diversified is the manufacturing and supply footprint? - What options exist if a site, supplier or transport route is disrupted? - Where is inventory held relative to areas of highest clinical risk? - How are regulatory, logistics and operational decisions coordinated under stress? - What contingencies are in place before they are needed? Embedding these questions early helps healthcare systems move beyond unit price as the default and select partners capable of sustaining care delivery when conditions deteriorate. In MedTech, trust travels quietly through the supply chain. Reliability isn’t always visible until it is missing. I explore this further in the article below and would genuinely love to hear your perspective #SupplyChain #Healthcare #MedTech #Resilience #Procurement #geopoliticalconflicts #healthcarecontinuity

The most important work in community health is often invisible. Recently, someone asked me how to build an integrated social care coordination program. My answer probably wasn't what they expected. I didn't start with technology, staffing models, or funding opportunities. I started with one question: "What problem are you trying to solve?" Too often, organizations jump to solutions before they've reached a shared understanding of the problem. Without that foundation, even well-designed programs struggle to gain traction. That conversation reminded me how much of this work is invisible. When I started my current role six years ago, community health was often viewed through the lens of a mobile wellness van. The van—and the incredible team behind it—was making a difference. But it wasn't the strategy. It was one tool within a much broader effort to improve community health outcomes. Over time, we worked to redefine what community health meant within our organization. Community health wasn't just about delivering services. It became recognized as a strategic function that advances health system priorities, strengthens partnerships, improves access, addresses the drivers of health, and supports our organization's mission. That shift didn't happen because of one grant. Or one presentation. Or one new program. It happened through years of listening, building trust, strengthening relationships, aligning priorities, demonstrating value, and helping others see community health differently. The programs people see are only the visible part of the work. The invisible infrastructure includes: • Trust before collaboration • Relationships before partnerships • A shared vision before implementation • Strategic alignment before expansion • Listening before solutions Programs matter. Technology matters. Mobile health units matter. But none of them become transformational without the invisible infrastructure beneath them. Leadership. Trust. Relationships. A shared vision. Sometimes the most important work we do isn't launching the next program. It's creating the conditions that allow meaningful change to happen. #CommunityHealth #PopulationHealth #HealthcareLeadership #SystemsThinking #HealthEquity #RuralHealth #CommunityPartnerships #SocialCare #ImplementationScience #PublicHealth

Amazon, Nvidia, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Oracle, Salesforce, Palantir. They're all making headlines for "transforming healthcare" with AI. Amazon is embedding AI into One Medical, its online pharmacy, and AWS tools for drug discovery. Nvidia is focusing on surgical robotics, medical imaging, and drug discovery, partnering with firms like GE Healthcare. Microsoft is enhancing clinical documentation and hospital automation through its acquisition of Nuance and collaboration with Nvidia. Google offers healthcare-specific AI models such as MedLM and Vertex AI Search, and supports drug discovery via Isomorphic Labs. Apple utilises AI in consumer health via Apple Watch and is developing an AI health coach. Oracle is evolving Cerner's EHR systems with AI capabilities. Salesforce introduces AI agents for healthcare tasks. Palantir supports hospital operations and compliance with its AI platform. The implications? Data Lock-In: Proprietary systems make it difficult for healthcare providers to switch platforms, leading to vendor lock-in. Monopolization: Consolidation of healthcare data by a few tech giants can stifle competition and innovation. Privacy Concerns: Centralized data repositories increase the risk of data breaches and misuse. What can HealthTech leaders do? Advocate for Open Standards: Push for interoperability and data portability to prevent vendor lock-in. Diversify Partnerships: Collaborate with a range of tech providers to avoid over-reliance on a single vendor. Prioritise Patient-Centric Solutions: Focus on technologies that enhance patient care, not just operational efficiency. Are we building a healthcare system that truly serves patients, or one that serves the interests of tech conglomerates?

It's 2am in a suburban kitchen. A daughter is trying to calm her Mom with Alzheimer’s, who is convinced a "stranger" has broken into the house. Voices are rising. The caregiver has no training in de-escalation and no idea what to do next. She has a pamphlet… and a growing sense of failure at something nobody taught her how to do. In my years on the frontlines of caregiving across America, I've seen that this is one of the BIGGEST hidden failures in neurological care: we diagnose dementia in clinic, then outsource the day-to-day care to families… with almost NO training. In the latest AARP/NAC data, only ~11% of family caregivers report any formal training in ADLs, and the numbers are similarly poor for dementia caregivers. Meanwhile, the "training gap" shows up downstream where we all feel it: crises at home leads to PANIC then calling 9-1-1 then an Emergency Room visit, in an environment that often worsens agitation and confusion in older adults with dementia. That's why I wrote my latest NeurologyLive feature that just came out today. In the extensively researched piece, I make a simple argument: if we’re serious about keeping patients safely at home (where most dementia care already happens), then we need just-in-time, AI-powered personalized care training that works in real life... meaning often the 3-minute windows between meds, meals, and meltdowns. At CareYaya, we’ve mobilized 50,000+ healthcare students as caregivers, and the number one feedback from families is not scheduling or price. It’s "I often don't know what I'm doing." That's the hole we're filling through YayaGuide, a new AI-powered micro-learning + conversational coaching platform that we started at Johns Hopkins Artificial Intelligence Collaboratory for Aging Research and just won backing from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to accelerate. Think the "Duolingo of dementia care training", grounded in evidence-based frameworks and guardrails. It can significantly relieve stress on family caregivers, while keeping older adults safer at home and avoiding preventable ER visits. The power of AI to deliver personalized training is really hard to ignore... and better-trained caregivers can handle more crises at home, follow care plans more confidently, and avoid the "panic-to-ER" doom loop. If you're a neurologist, nurse, social worker, caregiver, or health system leader: what's the one dementia scenario you wish every family caregiver knew how to handle before they ever leave the clinic? Actively looking for collaborators to work on this with us, please reach out! Full article, lmk what you think! 👇 https://lnkd.in/edab8bd2

The Pharma Digital Health Partnership Maturity Map Not all digital health partnerships are created equal, or at least progress equally (see chart below) Some pharma companies appear to be systematically turning collaborations into more tangible outcomes. Others seem to be running a larger number of pilots with fewer visible follow-on signals To explore this pattern, I mapped major pharma companies across two dimensions: • Total number of digital health partnerships • % of partnerships showing follow-on signals Follow-on signals include things like partnership expansions, clinical evidence, regulatory milestones, or commercial rollout Four broad segments emerge: 🟡 Ecosystem Builders Combining both scale and follow-through in digital health collaborations. Sanofi and Roche stand out clearly here 🔵 Precision Partners Fewer deals, but a higher share generating follow-on signals 🟣 Pilot Factories High partnership activity, but fewer visible signals that pilots convert into deeper integration 🟠 Explorers Early experimentation with limited scale or visible follow-on signals so far Of course this is not a perfect measure of success or ROI. Some partnerships may still be ongoing, some milestones may not be publicly disclosed, and in some cases partnerships may reach the market but ultimately fail However, when you look across hundreds of partnerships, interesting patterns begin to emerge If you work in pharma exploring digital health partnerships, or are building a company looking to partner with pharma, feel free to reach out. These trends can reveal useful signals for decision-making (The map is based on analysis of 700+ pharma digital health partnerships and follow-on signals tracked in the Alchemy Signals dataset) #digitalhealth #ai #pharma

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 Recruitment is known as a fast paced industry, but there’s one part of our role as recruiters that can’t be rushed; building relationships. In my experience, creating long-term relationships with our clients, candidates, and colleagues is invaluable. Not only does this approach lead to better hiring decisions, but it also shapes careers, fuels business growth, and creates networks of trust that last for years. Here’s why long-term relationships should be the foundation of any great recruitment strategy: 𝟏. 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞  The best partnerships – whether with clients or candidates – aren’t built in a single conversation. They develop over time, through consistency, honesty, and delivering results. When businesses work with recruiters they trust, they gain a true partner, not just a service provider. The same applies to candidates. Many of the strongest hires come from professionals we’ve known for years and placed more than once. 𝟐. 𝐀 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐁𝐞 𝐚 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 One of the most rewarding aspects of long-term relationship-building is seeing how careers evolve. Many candidates we’ve placed early in their careers have gone on to become hiring managers or senior leaders, and when they need to build their own teams, they often return to the recruiters they trust. A single placement can turn into a lifelong professional partnership. 𝟑. 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬  Understanding a company’s culture, leadership style, and long-term growth strategy takes time. The deeper that understanding, the better the hires. Clients who treat recruiters as strategic partners rather than short-term vendors see the biggest return on investment – not just in speed to hire, but in quality and retention. 𝟒. 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬  In today’s job market, candidates expect a personal, transparent process – one where they feel valued beyond a single application. A recruiter who stays in touch, offers advice, and provides genuine career guidance builds relationships that last. And when candidates have a great experience, they refer others, expanding the recruiter’s network even further. 𝟓. 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧  The recruitment industry is built on trust and reputation. The most successful recruiters are the ones known for honest, long-standing relationships that create value for both businesses and professionals over time. At the end of the day, recruitment is about people, not transactions. The strongest partnerships aren’t measured in placements but rather in careers built, businesses grown, and trust earned.

India is showing the world how healthcare innovation should be done. While the U.S. poured more than $2 billion into its Cancer Moonshot—announcing grand ambitions but delivering little—India’s Karkinos Healthcare built a nationwide cancer care network with just $100 million. As I explain in Fortune, in four years (less than the Moonshot’s original target), They screened over 3 million people, diagnosed 60,000 cancer patients, and brought life-saving care to 35,000 people in villages and small towns who previously had no access at all. This isn’t theory or another pile of academic papers, it is real-world impact. Karkinos lives saved, suffering reduced, and a model that is now scaling across India with Reliance Industries at the helm. Having had a front-row seat as an advisor and mentor to Karkinos, I saw the challenges: logistical nightmares, funding gaps, and moments when the company’s survival was in question. But determination, speed, and flawless execution turned the tide—proving what’s possible when bold vision meets relentless action, both Venkat R. and Moni Abraham Kuriakose did wonders. Governments everywhere should take note: the future of healthcare depends on partnerships that execute, not just research grants and bureaucracy. The lesson is clear—whether in India, the U.S., or anywhere else—the winners will be those who combine vision with focused, scalable action. https://lnkd.in/g7N7gczr #HealthcareInnovation #India #CancerCare #PublicPrivatePartnerships #Execution #Karkinos #GlobalHealth