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Apotex Uses BusinessObjects for High-Stakes Decisions in Generic Pharmaceuticals

"To compete globally, we need to transform our product development process and minimize the time it takes to go from deciding to develop a generic drug to bringing it to market. Business Objects solutions give us instant, actionable insight into development and market data so we can focus on rapidly delivering the right product to the right market."

Michael Davidson, CIO, Information Services, Apotex

Challenge

In Generic Pharmaceuticals, First-to-Market Often Takes All

For a pharmaceutical company awarded first rights to sell its generic drug in a new market, the rewards are high. The company might get exclusivity in that market or will at least have a strong shot at establishing itself as the top-of-mind generic that pharmacists deliver, resulting in substantial revenues. The payback on pharmaceutical research and development can be tremendous, as is the reward to a company's shareholders who realize greater returns and patients who enjoy faster access to lower-cost medicines.

Apotex has shown it can win this high-stakes game. Apotex is Canada's leading producer of generic drugs, delivering more than 300 generic pharmaceuticals in over 4,000 dosages and formats, and filling more than 75 million prescriptions a year. "The time is right," says John Mayer, Director of Consulting and Testing Services in Information Services at Apotex. "Baby boomers are aging and the market for generic pharmaceuticals is growing." But to seize the opportunity, Apotex needs faster, more reliable insight into the data that drives its business, so it can better allocate resources, anticipate challenges, and fine-tune a time-to-market strategy for each drug release.

A key challenge for Apotex, according to Mayer, was to improve the company’s “organizational maturity in business intelligence.” Previously, Apotex found it difficult to consistently analyze and communicate relevant data, as well as track the impact of market events, regulatory changes, and evolving competitive positions – leading to rework on products and lost time and resources as groups proceeded with an original plan that ultimately needed to be revised due to new market realities.

Although Apotex had implemented SAP® Business Information Warehouse (BW) several years earlier, the company found many of its systems were still siloed, with several groups relying on incompatible legacy systems. "To improve our internal information supply chain, we first needed to ensure we could speak a common language across the different systems," Mayer explains.

Even after implementing several data marts, Apotex did not achieve the degree of cross-silo visibility that it needed to drive new efficiencies. The company struggled to implement business intelligence (BI) toolsets to enhance its data warehouse and reporting. "We had implemented tools that weren’t quite ready, and that was frustrating for our users," says Mayer. "We wanted a BI solution that integrated reliably with SAP and would work from day one." An added requirement for the company’s BI solution was that it support a range of business-critical activities across manufacturing, research and development (R&D), and financial systems.

Approach

Solutions from Business Objects, an SAP company, satisfy all Apotex requirements. Today, Apotex has standardized on BusinessObjects™ XI Release 2, a complete suite of performance management, information management, reporting, and query and analysis solutions. Within the BusinessObjects XI platform, hundreds of Apotex staff regularly rely on BusinessObjects Web Intelligence®, Crystal Reports, BusinessObjects Data Integrator, Business Ojbects Metadata Management, and Xcelsius® Dashboard Builder software.

"We had used Crystal Reports, so we knew Business Objects solutions were robust and flexible enough to work across systems," says Mayer. "With Business Objects, we improved our ability to analyze and share information and to rapidly address new requirements, reallocate resources, and shorten the time it takes information services to deliver business solutions to its end users."

Among the Apotex groups that are the heaviest users of Business Objects solutions include financial analysts focusing on both on reporting using Crystal Reports XI Release 2, and mining data out of SAP BW data marts. This group is working with Xcelsius to create financial reporting on top of SAP to help several hundred Apotex managers and executives keep close tabs on the pulse of the business. "The SAP and Business Objects solutions are very complementary," says Michael Davidson, CIO at Apotex. "Business Objects solutions offer unmatched usability and analytics, making it easy for us to leverage data from SAP BW. With Business Objects, we can meet the diverse BI needs of our business."

On the scientific side of its operations, Apotex has several point solutions for different business areas that include data marts in individual systems. "BusinessObjects Web Intelligence lets us take a more holistic approach to accessing and analyzing our project data, and more importantly, puts ad-hoc reporting capabilities into the hands of the decision makers," explains Mayer. "Our managers can access key data across multiple systems where and when they need it to gain a more unified view of data and identify opportunities to streamline development or catch problems before they arise."

To ensure it had the right skills and expertise, Apotex brought in Business Objects Global Services for many of its initiatives, including rolling out financial data marts. "The Global Services team made us confident that we had the skills to drive the product suite implementation and accelerate our rollout," says Mayer. "Our focus in Information Services is on efficiencies and speed to deliver business solutions. Business Objects Global Services helped us accomplish each initiative as quickly as possible."

Results

BusinessObjects XI has improved Apotex insight into critical business data and accelerated decision-making processes. “Comprehensive reports are generated faster and more efficiently,” says Mayer. “We spend a lot less time producing reports and a lot more analyzing results.” Approximately 700 people create a variety of reports or use other Business Objects tools, with more than 250 of those users relying on the solutions daily.

Especially important to Apotex is insight into processes that impact product development. For example understanding changing market conditions both domestically and internationally, being able to effectively communicate changes between business stakeholders, and analyzing their impact on the priority of development projects helps ensure resources are allocated to the right products. The resulting efficiencies can put Apotex in the enviable position of being the first to market in a region – and thereby well placed to lead the market and profit from a new generic drug.

Leveraging the complementary capabilities in Business Objects and SAP solutions, Apotex maximizes the value of its previous technology investments, while providing managers better access to data in SAP BW and other non-SAP systems. This in turn significantly enhances Apotex’s ability to improve product development and address regulatory requirements.

Mayer is confident that Apotex will reduce its cycle times with BusinessObjects. Also critical, the company has accelerated its ability to analyze third-party market data that highlights treatment usage and market conditions in different regions. Traditionally, Apotex analysts spent weeks sifting through data for insight into drug performance in various markets. With Business Objects BI capabilities, analysts quickly gain a more complete view of a market and the business opportunities – precious time when the clock is running to be the first to market.

With the help of Business Objects Global Services, Apotex efficiently deployed the BI solutions it needed to transform new product development. "We get answers from Global Services faster than we do from other software services providers," says Mayer. "The knowledge and expertise offered by Global Services gives us a competitive edge as we roll out our BI solutions."

"To compete globally, we have to ensure that we have a trustworthy, robust business intelligence solution in place," says Mayer. "Business Objects solutions give us instant, actionable insight into development, financials and market data so we can focus on rapidly delivering the right product to the right market."

"The acquisition of Business Objects by SAP provides the best of both worlds," Davidson says. "We’re confident we can get even more insight into SAP through our Business Objects solutions. At the same time, we are happy about the Business Objects commitment to remaining a source-agnostic tool. Our company is complex and relies on several systems. Business Objects is positioned to meet our needs today and in the future."

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