Technical product management transformation

Introduction

In 2019, the Roche Pharma Technical Services (PTS) Supply Chain Leadership Team reviewed their long term strategy and defined a clear vision of striving to become the number 1 patient centric supply chain in the Pharma industry. A high-level Supply Chain (SC) operating model was defined, targeting to improve patient centricity, increase the clock speed of the supply chain and install integrated decision making.

2024 has just seen the completion of the successful Paris Olympics and, five years on, it is a good time to review the progress of the Roche Supply Chain Transformation. The Olympic Motto is “Faster, Higher, Stronger.”  These terms can be adapted to represent the capabilities that the Roche PTS team needed. 

Why Change?

For many years pharma technical operations was the poor cousin of the commercial teams. Expected to always deliver product but not at the top of the list. This however is changing as the molecule pipeline is changing. 

· Molecules are coming faster. The number of accelerated approvals has risen and it is not uncommon for molecules to jump from phase 1 to 3. This was happening before COVID struck, but COVID gave added impetus. Speed applies not only to new products but to tech transfers (TT) of existing molecules. During COVID Roche managed to effect a TT in less than 3 months against the long term average of 9 to 18 months. 

· There is a wider range of molecules across modalities. Cell Gene Therapies, ADCs, Oligonucleotides, Fusion Proteins and even non-pharmaceutical treatments have been added to the core small molecules and monoclonal-antibodies. 

· CMC is now often on the critical path.  Many of the newer modes of action have significantly higher cost of goods sold. And even for established products, the term resiliency has become more important. 

· The supply chain needs to accommodate a signficantly increased number of launches (26) . 

In effect the department was being asked to do much more but with the same resource level.  Added pressure came when, after the COVID high, the Roche share price started a prolonged down trend. 

The Existing Structure

The department Technical Product Management (TPM) is the central department in Roche for all supply chain and product-related strategies. Anchoring the SC vision within Technical Product Management is therefore key for the successful implementation of the vision across Roche Supply Chain. Within the strategy development process, a new product segmentation scheme was defined around the 5 – launch, resilient, established and divest. 

Technical Product Management is running the strategy development process for all Roche products, from pre-launch to divestment. It is an ecosystem encompassing about 70 FTEs which focus on site network, products supply chains and process technology. The team operating mode and processes are expected to be agile (sensing and seizing opportunities with flexible resource allocation) and integrated with the commercial organization. Making the right choices in this area has a big influence on the business performance with respect to service, to quality and to efficiency. 

The New Operating Model

Objectives of the Target Operating Model were as below and centered around 7 deliverables: 

1. Identified business opportunities such as introducing Integrated Business Planning; clearer sourcing criteria, and increased financial discipline and end to end planning that takes in drug substance, drug product and finished product as a whole. 

2. Organization assessment with recommendations on catalog of services that Technical Product Management should provide and clarity on capabilities to build in order to achieve best in class

3. Action plan  incl. working principles, with a clear way forward to close gaps from as is vs future state

4. Product Strategy Playbook that Roche can implement and execute: The Playbook is a stand-alone document that contains all the necessary supporting content to be used by the Technical Product Team in the strategy development process

5. Implementation roadmap such that identified improvements are implemented in a consistent way with the full support of the Technical Product Management organization

6. Capability building plan to deliver independently on best in class operating model

7. Change management plan with sustainable delivery of best in class performance of business process, full business continuity 

The new operating was then implemented in 2019 onwards, following the following operating principles: Translate - Shape - Engage

Results

· The Technical Product Management is getting involved earlier in the product configuration process resulting in a more business accurate supply configuration: This is particularly true for due diligences where frequently the company is presented with an early stage molecule whose supply chain is weak. 

· There has been a shift towards a more customer-basedview: Integrated Business Planning is part of the modus operandi of the technical product teams where marketing and commercial data inform supply and planning. 

· The product team’s capabilities have expanded outside of the technical expertise where commercial and customer data enable better informed product configuration decisions.

· A far greater emphasis is now placed on patient centricity, through the increased use of devices, more delivery to home and patient journey maps. 

October 2024

Helene Thar and Nick Wigdahl both served as Therapeutic Area Leads on the Roche Pharma Technical Services leadership team.