Shionogi’s Harmonized Data Foundation Powers Multiple Successful Launches

Common data architecture critical to launch success

Since entering the European market seven years ago, Shionogi has rapidly expanded its women’s healthcare product line and added a hospital specialty business. A key component of its expansion strategy has been creating a harmonized and scalable customer data foundation. As a result, Shionogi is experiencing tangible benefits across the board: the increased reach, seamless rep experience, ecosystem insights, and fast, comprehensive analytics have resulted in more streamlined product launches.

An integrated approach to customer data

Previously, Shionogi had different disconnected solutions for customer data in each of its European markets. Italy and the U.K., for example, had a legacy data provider, while Spain relied on in-house data. The reporting and response times failed to meet team needs, and processes didn’t align with their reps’ workflow in Veeva CRM.

“To support future growth and scalability, we needed a harmonized approach,” explains Bob Bell, director of digital innovation, Europe, at Shionogi. “We chose Veeva OpenData as it delivered a fast, streamlined model for managing and connecting data. Through native integration with our CRM system, we could offer a seamless experience for the end-user.” The initial migration covered the U.K., Spain, and Italy, with France and Germany added after launch.

Making the switch – a local perspective

As with any data migration, the ‘merge and match’ process was the most critical part. Each team completed this essential phase within two months. “Our successful switch was facilitated by the fact that Veeva OpenData offered a database that was complete to start with,” reflects Francesco Assettati, senior manager for commercial excellence at Shionogi Italy. “For the active HCP population that we migrated in Italy, 90%-95% were automatically matched during the merge and match process. And having a robust, functional data change request process from day one allowed us to handle exceptions and any missing records easily.”

Immediate impact on product launch

The implementation had a timely impact on Shionogi’s launches in a new therapeutic area that required precision.

“Getting our reps access to Veeva OpenData at this critical time meant that they could search the whole HCP universe and instantly download new contacts to augment their target lists,” explains Assettati. “And the rich affiliation data helped them quickly understand how their target hospitals were structured. Veeva OpenData also made it easier to match data with our partner and avoid overlap.”

Understanding new markets with trusted data

Having a single source of truth for customer data is transforming Shionogi’s end-to-end process for launching brands in new European markets: from the medical team’s engagement with stakeholders to commercial execution. Due to the integration between OpenData and Veeva CRM, targeting is easier and field execution more effective.

Shionogi also recently augmented its customer data foundation with real-time customer intelligence from Veeva Link. This allows teams to identify key medical and scientific experts, and initiate medical discussions, ahead of launch. These in-depth ecosystem insights are seamlessly integrated with OpenData, through a common data architecture.

The teams are now able to complete their analysis quickly, both for new markets and their existing primary care business. “I no longer spend my time worrying about data quality, OpenData just works,” says Bell. “The data is accessible to all our users when they need it. They’re able to submit their data change requests and get them validated quickly and accurately. Consequently, it has been a seamless transition for them.”

Bell continues, “In addition, our analytics team can now gain concrete insights within minutes due to the pre-built data model offered by OpenData. This eliminates silos and low-value data management tasks that used to absorb a lot of time previously. As a function, this means we’re now able to focus our time on answering business questions quickly.”

OpenData is used across all functions within Shionogi’s European business as the company continues to expand and reach new customers with its innovative treatments. Reflecting on the switch, Bell concludes: “The move to Veeva OpenData has been very successful and has given us a strong data foundation for the future.”

Learn more about building a strong customer data foundation.