Shimadzu 8th Global Pharma Summit 2021 transforms the future of Pharma with Digital Transformation or Pharma DX
The global pharma industry is often plagued by hurdles that severely stifle their growth. One such hurdle that not only the pharma industry but all industries across the world are facing today, is adapting to the current rapid acceleration in technology or “Tech-celeration” fuelled by the advent of COVID-19. This tech-celeration has created a dire need among pharma companies to quickly adopt digital transformation. Shimadzu, whose Corporate Philosophy is Contributing to Society Through Science and Technology, completely understands this crucial need of the hour.
And so, as a reiteration of their philosophy, this year the global analytical and medical technology leader, organised the 8th edition of the Shimadzu Global Pharma Summit on 19th November 2021. In accordance with the current trends and keeping in mind the needs of the customer, this the summit was aptly themed - Pharma Digital Transformation or “Pharma DX”. The on-demand version of the summit is available for your viewing pleasure at www.shimadzupharmasummit.com.
The Pharma Summit is a platform that Shimadzu provides to the global pharma industry to network, share and discuss strategies for the future of pharma. This year the summit was held “Phygitally” (physically + digitally). While on one had participants virtually joined the online portal showcasing a completely immersive 3D environment, on the other, key VIPs and industry leaders joined physically at multiple locations across India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The online broadcast was done across 2 time zones (12:30pm IST & 11 am EDT) to cater to the attendees from various parts of the world like the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia.
This year’s Phygital summit was a first-of-its kind by an analytical instrument manufacturer anywhere in the world. The milestone event witnessed participation from over 2000 global pharma leaders from over 100 global pharma organisation and from 18 countries, join hands in formulating strategies to transform their businesses using Pharma Digital Transformation or Pharma DX. The huge turnout of people globally at the various physical locations and over the internet, makes this the largest Shimadzu Global Pharma Summit ever till date. Majority of these participants were either CXOs, Managing Directors, Directors, Presidents, Vice Presidents or belonged to other key decision-making positions, as is the case with all previous summits over the years. The display of Shimadzu’s strength at the summit in the form of its state-of-the art technology solutions and instruments or its ability to gather the key opinion leaders of the pharma industry from across the world under one virtual roof, helped build an unforgettable brand image in the minds of the customers.
Dr Teruhisa Ueda, President and CEO, Shimadzu Corporation Japan, while delivering the Welcome Address, highlighted that, “With the advent of the pandemic, it is now more evident than ever before, how important the role of pharma is in today’s world. We also recognise that society is currently undergoing major changes, especially due to the pandemic, and we are thus continuously improving ourselves to become an even stronger partner of innovation and technology. Our objective has always been to add long term value to our customers’ journeys and help increase efficiency in Pharma.”
“In today’s New Normal, we wish that by combining our award-winning technologies along with your expertise and experience, we could work together and address the challenges that the pharma industry faces and Realise our Wishes for the Well-being of Mankind and the Earth. Achieving a sustainable society by creating shared value through solving societal challenges is what we always strive for in Shimadzu,” said Dr Ueda.
First-ever Phygital summit in the industry
The Shimadzu Global Pharma Summit is held once every 2 years physically in Singapore and witnesses the who’s who of the pharma industry converge at the iconic Marina Bay Sands for a 3-day extravaganza.
While this year the summit was not held at the same place (because of travel restrictions due to the pandemic), the spirit and the mindset of the participants were in the same space – a space that has over the years seen the pharma industry come together to address the latest challenges with the most advanced innovations and technologies. Whether it is Shimadzu’s proprietary Nobel Prize-winning innovations or whether it is the latest instruments powered by Analytical Intelligence, the Pharma Summit always provides the industry and its leaders with the best in Excellence in Science.
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The Pharma Summit series that was started in the 2007 has come a long way in terms of its scope and grandeur, with each edition being bigger and better that the previous events. Some of the earlier themes showcased at the Shimadzu Pharma Summit included:
- 2007: Scaling Higher Peak of Excellence
- 2008: Translating Innovations into Pharma Solutions
- 2010: Outsourcing – The Asia Advantage
- 2012: New Technologies to Bring Revolution in Cost-Effective Healthcare
- 2015: Face Regulatory Challenges with Confidence
- 2017: Leading the Biopharma Revolution Together
- 2019: Transforming the Future of Pharma
In 2021, with the pandemic paving the way for massive adoption of digitalisation and the whole world firmly anchored in the digital-first economy, the most pertinent theme to showcase was Pharma DX.
A truly immersive virtual 3D futuristic experience
This year saw the summit being showcased in a brand-new digital avatar. Leveraging on the technological advances made in CGI or Computer-Generated Imagery and Augmented Reality, Shimadzu was able to re-create and broadcast the entire experience of a physical summit over the internet on the site www.shimadzupharmasummit.com. The absolutely stunning graphical interfaces, combined with world-class content from global thought leaders, helped deliver an exceptionally captivating experience to the customers and other attendees, which has never before been witnessed by them in the physical world.
Speakers & Panellists
The Shimadzu 8th Global Pharma Summit 2021 witnessed participation from some of the top pharma industry leaders from across the world. Keeping in mind the extensive knowledge that these eminent individuals already possessed and the niche subject of Pharma DX, it became imperative that Shimadzu had to source the best subject matter experts from across the world, if the content of the summit was to be made valuable enough for the already enlightened audience. The wide range of speakers and panellists from across the world, who obliged to share their knowledge at the summit, included:
| Topic | Speaker |
|---|---|
| Digitalisation in Pharma: Is it a Promise, an Opportunity, or a Challenge? | Dr Katalin Ganzler, Gedeon Richter, Europe |
| Digital Transformation of Drug Discovery | Dr Muralidhararao Bagadi, Biocon BMS R&D Center (BBRC) Syngene International, India |
| “iFactory” Project | Dr Nagatoshi Koumura, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science & Technology, Japan |
| Future of Drug Discovery | Dr Narayanan Balaji, Jubilant Biosys, India |
| Advanced Pharmaceutical Ingredient Manufacturing Enabled by QC Lab-on-a-Cart | Dr Eric Fang, Snapdragon Chemistry, USA |
| Advancement in Vaccine Manufacturing | Dr Wenli Hou, Chengdu Kanghua Biological Products, China |
| Advanced DX and Innovations for Human Health | Mr Mase Yoshiaki, Shimadzu Corporation, Japan |
The topic of discussion of the panel was “Pharma DX” and the panellists were:
- Dr Prasad KPP, Tessa Therapeutics, Singapore (Moderator)
- Ms Lathalu Krishnamoorthy, ICM Pharma, Singapore
- Dr Venugopala Rao Korlam, Novartis, India
- Dr Nagatoshi Koumura, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science & Technology, Japan
- Mr Masami Tomita, Shimadzu Corporation, Japan
The Workflow Stations
One of the most important and unique features of this year’s summit were the 6 Workflow Stations, namely:
Station 1: Shimadzu’s Unique Drug Discovery Workflow
Station 2: Shimadzu’s Total BioPharma Workflow
Station 3: Shimadzu’s Work-From-Anywhere QA/QC Workflow
Station 4: Shimadzu’s Advanced Natural Products Workflow
Station 5: Shimadzu’s Comprehensive Nitrosamines Workflow
Station 6: Shimadzu's Tech-celeration Solutions for Pharma
As the names indicate, each of these stations featured a comprehensive deep dive into the various workflows that the attendees could utilise in their laboratories for Pharma DX.
Launch of the World’s First Living LC
The Shimadzu 8th Global Pharma Summit 2021 also saw the unveiling of the World’s First Living LC. This UHPLC-ready LC, which is as dynamic and intelligent as life itself, is the first-in-line of many soon-to-come “Living Instruments”. These instruments will showcase pioneering innovations and autonomous features like Self-Optimising, Self-Adapting and Self-Learning abilities and are designed keeping in mind the futuristic Smart Labs. The Living LC and other Living Instruments will play a crucial role in enabling in Pharma DX and transforming Pharma 4.0 now and in the near future as well.
Mr Prem Anand, Executive Officer and Senior General Manager, Shimadzu (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, who along with delivering the opening Exordium at the event also launched the Living LC, revealed that, “Living Instruments are an emerging wave of technologies that incorporate the dynamics of human life in technology. Some examples of Living Instruments are Self-Driving Transportation and AI Surgery Robots, which are completely transforming our lives. Shimadzu has become the first-in-the-world to develop such living analytical instruments that have autonomous operation and can accomplish complex functions by themselves without human intervention. We call it Analytical Intelligence – The 6th Sense of analytical instruments.”
Mr Anand also said that, “We are happy to introduce to you Shimadzu’s Advanced i-Series, The World’s First Living LC. This ground-breaking instrument is a masterpiece of our Excellence in Science and is a fusion of all of Shimadzu’s innovations over the past 146 years. We want you to future-proof your laboratories and drive towards Zero Waste with our Living LC.”
Together, let us usher in the era of Pharma 4.0
Shimadzu’s aim with the Shimadzu 8th Global Pharma Summit 2021 was to reinforce its position as a Key Leader in Pharma 4.0 and expand its outreach significantly. Looking at the testimonials received from the attending pharma industry leaders from across the world, it seems apparent that Shimadzu has been able to well achieve this objective and has further strengthened its brand presence in the hearts and minds of the customers and all the attendees alike.
Mr Tetsuya Tanigaki, Managing Director, Shimadzu (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, Singapore, who delivered the Vote of Thanks, said, “This year the theme of the summit is Pharma DX and I am very happy to see that a wide range of trending topics from AI Deep Learning to Robotics and from Continuous Manufacturing to Living Technology have been covered today. We hope that the Pharma Summit has provided you with the experience and tools to undertake Digital Transformation in your business.
We look forward to continuously providing you with such ground-breaking innovations and technologies to help you achieve higher productivity and efficiency. This event is a reflection of our corporate philosophy of Contributing to Society Through Science and Technology and it is with this philosophy that we look forward to partnering you on your Pharma DX journey,” said Mr Tanigaki.
The summit is not meant to be an isolated event catering to the pharma industry but is a starting point and a beacon for all promotional and relationship building activities that Shimadzu undertakes for the duration of time until its next pharma mega event. Meanwhile, the valuable contacts developed during the event are leveraged upon by all participating stakeholders to grow their respective business and networks.
The Shimadzu 9th Global Pharma Summit would be organized in 2023. It would be focussed on the most pertinent challenges that the pharma industry would encounter in the next two years. Whatever be the hurdle, Shimadzu will always support pharma, not only by organising bigger and better summits but also by continuously providing advanced state-of-the-art technology solutions to the pharma industry across the world.
If we could summarise all the deliberations of the first-ever Phygital Global Pharma Summit, then it would be this - Together, let us Transform the Future of Pharma with Pharma DX and ride the wave of Innovation and Digital Transformation.
(The on-demand version of the summit is available for your viewing pleasure at www.shimadzupharmasummit.com).
Customer Testimonials
"The summit was very engaging. Especially the virtual tour on the 6 stations. We may not be there physically, but we felt that we were really attending a summit and not just an ordinary seminar." - Ms Kathlyn Reyes, Uni Lab, Philippines
"Dr Chua and Dr Udi from Natural Products presented well." - Ms Hazel Lau, IMRE, Singapore
"I commend the virtual experience, exceeded my expectation." - Ms Yvonne Mary Bardullas, TUP, Philippines
"The summit was very excellent." - Mr Mohammad Waqas, Martin Dow, Pakistan
"I have enjoyed the two events I attended from Shimadzu. The presentations had an excellent level." - Mr Amaury Borges Miranda, YSQ International, Singapore
"Its really informative and good platform to learn about AI in LC series." - Dr Hiteshkumar Dave, Deepak Nitrite Ltd, India
"More audience participation or activities like raffle that would entice attendees to listen more." - Ms Hazel Joy Taliman, Reckitt Benckiser, Philippines
"LabSolutions BiX has helped them ramp up the laboratory productivity and efficiency." - Ms Sharvari Deshpande, Milan Laboratories, India
"Impressed with the capabilities of Shimadzu Informatics Solutions towards “Work for Anywhere” concept for lab operations which as an SME Pharma they will look forward upscaling to." - Mr Mehul Shah, Director Precise Chemipharma, India
"Thanked Team Shimadzu for organizing the event and wished Team Shimadzu success." - Dr Vivek Jadhav, Vab Pharma, India
"In his short address on behalf of all customers quoted you saying ‘While we are not in same place, we are in the same space’ was so apt in today’s environment and how DX is now so relevant for all businesses which will bring about positive impact." - Dr Rajeev Desai, Lupin Ltd, India
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