Novartis CEO Who Wanted To Bring Tech Into Pharma Now Explains Why It's So Hard

The current challenge for data science and technology (DST) in healthcare is moving beyond the "dancing bear" stage, where "the wonder is not how well the bear dances, but that he dances at all." It's time for DST to evolve past the novelty publications and the click bait, and demonstrate its ability to materially impact health and disease. Narasimhan assumed the reigns as CEO a year ago, emphasizing the importance of digital and data for pharma R&D. Now, a year into his tenure, he reflects on how the technology integration effort has been going. The need for DST impact in pharma is especially acute, and challenging, as this column has critically explored.