Maria Whitman

The 2025 Pulse Check is a three-part written roundtable series examining how 2025’s major policy, technology, and market-access shifts are reshaping the HEOR, RWE, and Market Access landscape. Leaders from biopharma, consulting, and payer strategy share concise perspectives in response to three key questions shaping the year ahead. Contributors include: Esther Nzenza, Aaron Berger, • Suzette Matthijsse, PhD, Ron Akehurst, Daniel Gladwell, Benjamin Farrar, Radek Wasiak, Lindsay Bealor Greenleaf Read the series: https://lnkd.in/eKqUKaeY

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ZS founded our Women’s Health Expertise Hub because we believe in a future that views women’s well-being as a priority. To realize that future, we need to address algorithmic bias. It isn’t just a tech problem—it’s a health problem. And in women’s health, the stakes are even higher. That’s why I loved this interview with a Durham University researcher. Instead of building algorithms for patients, she’s designing them with patients—using input from diverse groups to shape tools that actually support diagnosis and improve care. More of this, please. (Link in comments.)

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AI has the potential to make a meaningful difference in healthcare for patients, caregivers, and providers, but there is still work to do to translate that potential into impact. At ZS, we partnered with the Healthcare Leadership Council (HLC) to better understand what is slowing progress and how we can move forward. Through conversations with experts from more than 20 organizations across the healthcare ecosystem, we heard consistent themes around fragmentation across policy, data, infrastructure, and trust. Our report brings these perspectives together and shares practical insights on advancing AI responsibly with the patient at the center. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/grXbvFMT Grateful for the partnership with Maria Ghazal, Clara Keane, MPP, and the Healthcare Leadership Council (HLC), and for the collaboration with my co-authors Stephanie Santana, MPH, PMP and Karli Danielson. Thank you as well William (Bill) Coyle and Jessica Jarvis for their guidance and insights throughout this work. Reach out to learn more or discuss how your organization can navigate this landscape.

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Tech is no longer a support function, it’s a strategic driver of patient impact. CIOs have a critical role to play in shaping the future of patient services. My colleagues outline five bold actions CIOs can take now to elevate patient technology from fragmented to foundational. Link in comments. 

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ZS’s Future of Health research has found something troubling year after year: healthcare is leaving people feeling less “cared for” than ever. So, it’s not surprising that, as The New York Times reported, patients are getting more comfortable turning to chatbots to fill the gaps. But while these tools can help people navigate a system that often feels unresponsive, the risks are real—incorrect answers, shaky advice and confirmation bias included. The fact that patients are relying on chatbots for the empathy and responsiveness they can’t get from the system itself is a warning sign we shouldn’t ignore. (Link in comments.)

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I'm proud to share that ZS is partnering with Nucleate on the Inside Consulting PATH series and the Consulting 101 immersive! This program is designed for recent grads and early-career scientists who want to explore how their scientific training can translate into industry-wide impact through consulting. During my PhD, the most valuable skills I honed were learning quickly and asking the right questions—exactly the muscles we use every day in consulting. When we announced this program at Nucleate’s Summit, Bruce Press, Emily McLaughlin and I had the chance to chat with many of the Nucleate community about the breadth of roles at ZS. Folks were surprised (in a good way!) to learn that consulting lets you: * Think broadly while also cultivating deep expertise * Build bold strategies while also staying to see them through to measurable impact If that blend of curiosity, rigor and real-world outcomes sounds like you, I’d love for you to join us. Immersive Program Application (Due Dec 17): https://lnkd.in/ew3h8XGf #Nucleate #ZS #Consulting101 #LifeSciences #PhDToConsulting #InsideConsulting #CareerLaunch #EarlyCareer #STEMCareers

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Learn how Maria Palmieri partnered with a leading biopharma company to optimize digital spend, uncover growth opportunities across 20+ channels, and launch a social strategy that exceeded industry benchmarks. https://lnkd.in/dgaASqaV

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Excited to share the latest episode of McKinsey's Eureka! Podcast where Ashita Batavia joins my colleagues Nav Nagra, Alex Devereson, and Meredith Langstaff to discuss how real-world data, innovative trials designs, surrogate endpoints, and other innovations are accelerating drug development. They discuss some of the hottest topics in oncology, such as using real-world data and AI to better inform clinical trials and adopting more pragmatic trial designs to help navigate their complexity. 💡 Listen here: https://lnkd.in/e3guqVNJ #Eureka #LifeSciences #podcast

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On paper, the market for rare diseases may look less enticing than for high-prevalence conditions: individually tiny patient populations, complex development and higher cost-to-serve. In reality, as my colleagues Jason Yaffe, Vaibhav Kumar and Deepshikha Tanwar argue in their new piece, core fundamentals make rare disease one of the most strategically sound bets in pharma today—especially as growing numbers of biopharma companies crowd into more conventionally attractive therapy areas (TAs).   Why? Four reasons: -Higher likelihood of regulatory success thanks to well-defined patient populations and clearer endpoints -Lower development costs and faster timelines, often supported by expedited regulatory pathways -Opportunities for premium pricing given high unmet need and limited therapeutic alternatives -Potential for portfolio leverage into adjacent or more common indications   For companies willing to think beyond near-term ROI, rare disease offers a portfolio of opportunities that can deliver outsize scientific, reputational and long-term financial returns. The team explores this case in depth in a new piece (linked below) on why rare disease should be on every biopharma strategy agenda.

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By transforming documentation-heavy processes—like clinical trial paperwork and regulatory submissions—it’s helping pharma leaders accelerate timelines without compromising quality or compliance.​ BCG partnered with a leading biopharma company to build a multi-agent AI system integrating scientific databases, content management, and regulatory systems.​ The result: faster first drafts, rigorous compliance, and higher productivity across teams.​ Explore how agentic AI is powering the next wave of innovation in life sciences.​

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What does it take to turn promising science into scalable, patient-centered healthcare innovation? In my latest conversation with Manisha Narasimhan, PhD, Chief Digital Officer at Bausch + Lomb, she shares how she bridges lab breakthroughs with real-world impact, applies AI to transform ophthalmology and enterprise strategy, and drives digital transformation that truly sticks.Bausch + Lomb https://lnkd.in/eZnFMevu

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Grit. Resilience. Adaptability. ZS’s R&D roadshow recently stopped in Chicago, where I spoke with our team about how these three qualities will define success in this era of accelerating innovation. In just 18 months, we’ve gone from calling LLMs “stochastic parrots” to deploying AI agents capable of recursive reasoning and comprehensive research. Expertise still matters, of course. But what will really separate high-performing teams now and in the future are their human skills and how they complement this rapidly developing technology. To highlight the importance of grit, resilience and adaptability, I shared a story with the Chicago team from a ski trip last winter. I started the ski day, as I usually do, on a quest for the perfect run. What I got instead was a six-hour, solo climb (at times on my hands and knees) out of the Swiss backcountry, when I took a wrong path down the mountain. The day wasn’t what I hoped for, but I switched my plan in the moment to focus on my personal safety. That experience reminded me of some important lessons, which apply equally to backcountry skiing and evolving in the age of AI: - Grit is doing the boring work every day that prepares you for critical moments as you pursue a long-term goal. - Resilience is pushing through when things go sideways. - Adaptability is knowing when the goal needs to change. Some days don’t go the way we expect, but we need to find a way to push through them. These qualities can prepare us to thrive and lead in a period of change that will, without doubt, throw unexpected challenges at us. Let’s commit to putting in the work, shifting whenever we need to and recalibrating our goals when circumstances change.

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Patient programs have the potential to influence outcomes, yet a poorly timed program may lead to negative commercialization effects, according to our survey of biopharma commercial leaders. In this video, Beghou Partner Vishal Singal explains how unstructured data can illuminate the patient journey map, including the optimal moment to engage with a PSP. View all findings and recommendations here from our "Commercialization That Works" research: https://gag.gl/WR57jt

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My colleagues and I have been reviewing the latest FDA approval data as a pulse check on where pharmaceutical innovation—and value creation—is heading. The number of new therapeutic approvals in 2025 is broadly in line with recent years. But the projected value of this cohort is more muted relative to historical averages and prior peak cycles. In an environment shaped by looming patent cliffs, that distinction matters. Sustained value creation will require not just steady output—but true breakthrough advances and high-value assets that can redefine standards of care. For leaders across pharma, medtech, and diagnostics—including partners building the platforms and tools that enable discovery—the implications are clear: portfolio strategy, capital allocation, and BD priorities must be tightly aligned to long-term value, not just volume. BCG’s latest Drug Discovery article takes a closer look at how the 2025 approval cohort compares with long-term trends: https://lnkd.in/ghPAv9-j

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AI is the biggest boardroom conversation of our time, and it might be the toughest to deliver on. CEOs and boards are fired up about AI. They have seen the demos and pilots, they know the potential, and they want it yesterday. But when the conversation turns from ambition to execution, the reality hits: this is slow, hard work to deliver at scale. The technology itself is moving at breakneck speed. The real challenge is that scaling it inside large, complex organizations is slow, hard work. The gap is not about the technology. It is about reinvention of work, the workforce, and the workbench. In Accenture’s recent survey, 85% of C-suite leaders said they plan to increase AI spending this year. The ambition is clear, but results will not come without rethinking how work gets done, how the workforce is equipped and reskilled, and how the workbench, the systems, data, and processes that underpin it all, is redesigned to scale AI. Axios recently sat down with Julie Sweet, our CEO at Accenture, who laid it out clearly: AI is at the top of every C-suite agenda, but meaningful results are still elusive. Most companies are pouring in investment, but too few are seeing returns. Why? Because transformation takes time, and it requires leaders who can drive cultural change, not just approve pilots. Her point is that AI is not a quick win. It is a multi-year journey that demands new leadership, new skills, and a willingness to rewire the business. That is where the real value will be created. https://lnkd.in/ePsJVdgV

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The landscape of cancer treatment is diverse, featuring a broad range of therapies that each present unique supply chain challenges, requiring specialized processes and infrastructure. EY's Kerim Ozbilge shares key priorities to help establish highly reliable and resilient supply chains, strengthening the ability to deliver high-quality cancer therapies to patients worldwide efficiently and effectively. #cellandgenetherapy #cgt #cellandgene #precisionmedicine #oncology #supplychain #cancertreatment #cancertherapies https://lnkd.in/e72X8pum

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For those who are looking for a read just prior (or during?) your Christmas holidays, please have a look for our thoughts on 2025’s major policy, technology, and market-access shifts that are reshaping the HEOR, RWE, and Market Access landscape 💡 Benjamin Farrar Daniel Gladwell Ron Akehurst Lumanity #euhta #euhtar #marketaccess

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In today’s complex landscape, generating evidence is only the beginning; translating it into value that resonates is what truly matters. Join Christine Molbury and Beni T. from Magnolia Market Access as they dive into how cross-functional collaboration can break down silos and strengthen your value story across HEOR, RWE, clinical, and market insights. What you’ll learn: ✔️ How different stakeholders define value ✔️ Why disconnected strategies fall short ✔️ How to create unified, impactful messaging Whether you're in strategy, evidence, or insights, you’ll leave with practical takeaways to elevate how your team communicates value. 🔗 Save your spot: https://lnkd.in/gTac2BjM #MarketAccess #Webinar #Biopharma #HEOR #RWE

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