Alexion: Building an Effective Customer Data Foundation

This video captures a testimonial from Alexion, a major biopharmaceutical company, detailing the strategic justification for migrating their customer master data foundation to Veeva OpenData. The core purpose of the transition was to significantly improve the quality, scope, and operational efficiency of their commercial data, which is essential for effective engagement with healthcare professionals (HCPs) and institutions in the specialized life sciences sector. The speaker outlines three fundamental factors that drove the decision, all centered on overcoming limitations inherent in their previous, fragmented data management system.

A primary motivation for the shift was the critical need for real-time data verification. Under their prior system, the process for verifying customer data was significantly prolonged, and the traceability of changes and updates was complex and cumbersome. This delay in data validation directly impacted the timeliness and accuracy of commercial outreach and reporting. By moving to Veeva OpenData, Alexion gained immediate validation capabilities, ensuring that their commercial teams are operating with the most current and accurate information available, a necessity for maintaining compliance and optimizing sales and medical affairs activities.

Furthermore, the adoption of OpenData dramatically expanded the universe of accessible professional and institutional data. The speaker specifically highlights the value of comprehensive affiliation data—information linking HCPs to hospitals, clinics, and other organizations. This rich, expanded dataset was previously limited, restricting their ability to fully understand complex organizational structures and target appropriate accounts. For a company like Alexion, which often deals with specialty or rare diseases, having deep, accurate affiliation data is paramount for effective market segmentation and targeted engagement strategies.

The most significant operational advantage cited is the strategic consolidation of their commercial technology stack. Alexion achieved a unified architecture by integrating Veeva OpenData directly with their Veeva CRM platform. This integration eliminated the need for a dedicated, custom interface that previously required ongoing maintenance, specialized support, and troubleshooting. By leveraging a single, integrated partner for both their CRM execution and their master data management (MDM), Alexion streamlined their IT infrastructure, reduced technical debt, and ensured seamless, consistent data flow across their entire commercial ecosystem.

Key Takeaways: • Real-Time Data Verification is Paramount: The shift from batch or delayed verification processes to real-time validation is critical for pharmaceutical commercial operations, ensuring that sales and medical teams operate on current data, which enhances compliance and improves the effectiveness of customer interactions. • Enhanced Data Traceability: The new system simplifies data traceability, which is a vital requirement for regulatory compliance (e.g., GxP, 21 CFR Part 11). Simplified traceability reduces audit risk and speeds up internal compliance checks compared to complex, legacy interface setups. • Strategic Value of Affiliation Data: Access to a broader universe of data, particularly detailed HCP and institutional affiliation information, is essential for specialized pharma companies like Alexion. This data allows for more precise market segmentation, better territory alignment, and deeper insights into organizational influence networks. • Consolidation Reduces Technical Debt: Integrating the Customer Master Data Management (MDM) solution (OpenData) directly with the Commercial Execution platform (Veeva CRM) eliminates the need for custom, dedicated interfaces between disparate systems. This significantly reduces IT maintenance overhead, support costs, and the risk of data synchronization errors. • Maximizing CRM Investment: A unified data foundation ensures that the Veeva CRM platform operates with the highest quality data, directly maximizing the return on investment in the CRM system by improving targeting accuracy and reporting reliability. • Single Partner Efficiency: Utilizing Veeva as a single integrated partner for both MDM and CRM simplifies vendor management, streamlines support processes, and accelerates feature adoption, contrasting sharply with the complexities of managing multiple vendors and custom integration layers. • Data Scope Expansion: Pharmaceutical companies should actively seek MDM solutions that offer a wider data universe beyond basic contact information, focusing on crucial contextual data points like professional affiliations and organizational roles to drive commercial strategy. • Operational Streamlining: The decision to switch was fundamentally an operational move aimed at increasing efficiency. Removing the need for a separate interface dedicated to data synchronization frees up IT resources that can be redirected toward more strategic, value-generating projects, such as implementing advanced analytics or AI solutions.

Tools/Resources Mentioned:

• Veeva OpenData: The customer master data solution adopted by Alexion.
• Veeva CRM: The commercial execution platform used by Alexion, which integrates directly with OpenData.

Key Concepts:

• Customer Master Data Management (MDM): The process of centrally managing and maintaining a single, accurate, and consistent view of customer data (HCPs, organizations) across the enterprise.
• Real-Time Verification: The instantaneous checking and validation of data accuracy upon entry or update, crucial for maintaining high data quality in dynamic commercial environments.
• System Integration: The process of linking different IT systems (in this case, Veeva CRM and Veeva OpenData) to ensure seamless data flow and operational consistency, avoiding the need for manual or custom interface development.