Just attended the most recent BioIT World conference last week. This is THE conference where life sciences IT leaders go to figure out how to rebuild scientific R&D around AI, data and infrastructure.
Ironically, I met a bunch of ex-Benchling colleagues for the first time in person. I worked there during the pandemic and never had a chance to be in the same room, so that was a lot of fun to get warm hugs from folks!
Anyways, here are some impressions:
What the sessions said about pharma priorities:
The learning sessions overall were great. The only problem was that there were too many to go to! Here are the patterns I noticed:
AI is everywhere, but it’s moving from point solution (last couple of years) to core infrastructure (this year’s clear narrative). AI adoption is no longer a nice-to-have, and pharma leaders know it.
Data architecture matters more than the models. Every convo and every session eventually circles back to the same issue: pharma data is too fragmented, too siloed, and just not AI-ready. Honestly, it’s been a nagging problem for the past 15+ years.
There is a heavy focus on modernizing and scaling up pharma infrastructure. I think the industry is looking ahead and realizing that the current infrastructure will very quickly become a major bottleneck.
To me, the main conference vibe was: “How do we rebuild the pharma R&D operating system around AI?”
What pharma IT leaders said:
“I just look for specific keywords.”
I asked three pharma IT leaders what they thought of all the exhibit booths and messaging at BioIT World. Here’s what they told me:
2 of them told me that they have a hard time picking out what some of the vendors do because often times, the message is too generic (usually something vague about AI).
The third told me that they only look for one particular product keyword and ignore anything else on the booth. If word is not prominently visible on the booth, they will just walk by the booth without further consideration. (Read that again, and let it sink in)
The point is, people want specifics on what you do before they want to know how you do it. Humans are conditioned to mentally place things into neat categories and boxes in order to make sense of the world around them. That’s why messages that explicitly highlight what the vendor does are the ones that tend to get the most traction.
Messaging and differentiation are major issues, and few have it solved:
So many of the tech vendors sounded alike. In the clamor to be seen as an AI company, the core message of what they actually do is getting lost. Had a chat with a former Benchling co-worker about this, and we talked about how silly it would have been in 2017 to just say “We are SaaS for R&D.” But for some reason, today everyone says “We are AI for R&D” and somehow think that is sufficient.
Now go back to what I just said in the previous section above...
Not showing up in GEO is an ‘existential’ threat:
OK, OK, that is a bit dramatic. But it is a significant issue. A couple of tech vendors told me that they are struggling showing up online. They used to be ranked in the top 3 on Google searches and would get inbound regularly. But their traffic has all but evaporated and they aren’t really sure why. We talked at length about how it’s most likely because they are not showing up in GEO search (which is what buyers use to search for today) and what to do about it.
Not surprisingly, this was a common discussion at the Swaay Health conference also.
The rapidly evolving nature of “Right to try” laws:
The one session I appreciated the most was the one about “right to try” laws in which patients with terminal illness are given priority access to experimental medicines and studies. This is an area I was not very familiar with before. There are still a lot of practical limitations, and some states are experimenting with loosening these rules (Montana is leading the way) so that more terminally ill patients can get access sooner. Will be interesting to see how other states follow.
Final sentiments:
In general, great to see some of the pharma-IT movers and shakers, and to just catch up with innovators to learn what they’re doing. Also, hat tip to the PTP marketing folks, with what had to be the most innovative booth and marketing campaign at the conference. Their digital display, the folks in T-shirts with specific messages, clever ads in toilets (yes, really!) and the great networking reception all added up to lots of visibility for them.
Finally, Bio International and DIA are both just around the corner. Going to either? I’m still on the fence about whether I’m going since I will just have come back from overseas the day before, but Letitia Rodley will be at Bio and Vidhi Goel will be at DIA! So if you’re going to either and want to catch up, let us know.
I’m Abdul, the healthcare and life sciences marketer, and co-founder of Sirona Marketing, a commercialization partner for healthtech and life sciences company. If you need help with your marketing or GTM, we can help. If we can’t, we know people who can.
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