How Novartis Gene Therapies Gains
Precision and Speed in Reaching
Rare Disease Specialists

To continue making a difference for patients, and to find new ways to urgently reach the healthcare professionals (HCPs) who treat them, Novartis Gene Therapies relies on fast, easy access to high-quality customer reference data within its CRM.

Elodie Privat, the sales analytics and operations lead for Novartis Gene Therapies, is responsible for productivity and HCP engagement for the biopharma’s spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) therapy. “The ability to rapidly support our field teams with the precise data they need is essential,” she says, especially because the patient population for the treatment is small. When Novartis is launching in a new country or region, superior reference data is also key to identifying and forging new relationships with exactly the right HCPs.

With Veeva OpenData Commercial, Novartis’ reps have a single source of truth for customer reference data readily available in Veeva CRM. “Field teams are now confident in the data they have at hand,” says Privat. “So when I think of Veeva OpenData, I think of trusted data.”

Accurate data fosters trust, saves resources

Biopharma companies that focus on rare diseases take great care with proper allocation of resources due to limited budgets. As a result, Privat appreciates that OpenData checks two important boxes: “Ensuring that we have trust in the data itself, but also a resource- and time-saving feature like rapid updates to data.”

She points to reps’ ability to create and track the status and resolution of data change requests (DCRs) as an example: “Reps can make the request and continue working that same day.” They typically receive DCR updates in three hours or fewer, whereas previously, updates could take days or weeks and delay contact with HCPs.

Having a strong foundation of customer reference data in its CRM delivers positive returns for Novartis Gene Therapies’ operational teams as well. Privat says, “Since moving to OpenData, we get fewer tickets, less duplication of tasks, and happier end users.”

Integrated data and software boosts CRM adoption

OpenData natively integrates with Veeva CRM, and Privat says users report high satisfaction with its global reference universe of healthcare professionals, healthcare organizations, and affiliations — which bolsters CRM adoption at Novartis.

In the rare disease space, trusted and readily available data can make all the difference. “In the field, it means sales reps or medical staff know exactly who to contact and where to go, helping save time,” says Privat. And ultimately, these time savings translate into faster treatment for patients.

Learn more about making the most of customer master data.