Thomson PharmaSM - developing a new world of information
Luke Foster
Thomson Scientific
February 2005
Thomson PharmaSM is a dynamic new information solution for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. It breaks new ground by integrating scientific, patent, and financial content from across the spectrum of Thomson businesses. Developing this wide-ranging and powerful solution was a challenging initiative for the Thomson Pharma development team.
Origins: integrating pharmaceutical information
The idea for a solution that integrated pharmaceutical content from across a wide range of sources had been discussed long before the advent of Thomson Pharma. But the idea really took shape when Thomson Scientific added Current Drugs, and in particular the renowned Investigational Drugs database (IDdb), to its portfolio. IDdb integrates information on drugs, patents, companies, and meetings, so Thomson Scientific now had the perfect model on which to base an integrated solution for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
A management consultant group was hired to test the market. They conducted questionnaires, one to one interviews, and competitor analysis to see if an integrated pharmaceutical solution was viable, and to determine the needs of Thomson Scientific customers. The resulting study formed the basis of what was to become Thomson Pharma.
Content and functionality: shaping the solution
A key part of the study was to ask Thomson Scientific customers which aspects of existing products and services most facilitated their day-to-day activities. The team responsible for developing Thomson Pharma used the results of this research to help determine the content and functionality of the new solution. For example, the study revealed the importance of pharmacokinetics to customers, so Thomson Pharma includes a guided search that specifically helps customers locate pharmacokinetics information.
The development team also talked to experts within other businesses, such as from within Thomson Healthcare, and drew on their own knowledge of the market. Ian Tarr, Executive Vice President of Pharma/Chem Markets, Thomson Scientific, comments: “Developing the content was a combination of market research and internal knowledge. We have a strong understanding of our customers’ needs and this was reinforced by the market research study.”
Thomson Pharma was subsequently split into seven key areas of content that had been identified as “must-have” by customers:
- Drugs
- Intellectual Property
- Literature & News
- Companies
- Targets
- Chemistry
- Sequences
As the solution was developed, the team continued to obtain ongoing feedback from Thomson Scientific customers. Rachel Buckley, Director of Product Development, Thomson Scientific, comments: “From a very early stage, we were talking to our highly-valued customers, and not just from large companies but from a cross section of our market.”
Meanwhile, the process of finding a name for the solution was underway. Two surveys were undertaken to obtain customer feedback. The first canvassed broad opinion about potential names. The second survey asked customers to choose between:
- Thomson Pharma
- Thomson Pharma One
- Thomson One Pharma
- Thomson Sci Web
65% of those surveyed chose Thomson Pharma as either their first or second choice. Thomson Pharma officially came into existence.
Product development: utilizing cutting-edge technology
Thomson Pharma was developed utilizing cutting-edge Oracle technology. Glen Finnie, Senior Director Technology, Pharma/Chem Markets, Thomson Scientific, explains: “Oracle was chosen because it’s the de facto standard for the pharmaceutical industry. And it’s robust enough to handle the substantial amount of data we are including on Thomson Pharma.”
The development team had to integrate data that came in a variety of formats. This is where the ThomsonPLUS initiative was a great benefit. ThomsonPLUS is a Thomson Corporation initiative that is designed to enable Thomson market groups to access and utilize each other’s content and functionality. It meant Thomson Scientific could easily access the resources of the other Thomson businesses, such as Thomson Financial, when developing Thomson Pharma. As Glen adds: “We could tap into Thomson Financial resources without needing to re-host or duplicate their content.”
The result: breaking new ground
The Thomson Pharma development team also faced the challenge of pulling in expertise from across a wide range of businesses and meeting the needs of a large target audience. But the result is a solution that breaks new ground and fulfils the information needs of professionals working at all stages of the drug development pipeline. It enhances the ability of Thomson Scientific customers to innovate, work faster and smarter, and attain outstanding research and business results.
Through Thomson Pharma, professionals working at all stages of drug development can browse, search, and analyze multiple sources of data. They can create dynamic reports that accumulate over time and incorporate select information pulled from a wide range of sources (see figure 1). And they can personalize the way they search, see results, view information, obtain current awareness alerts, and more.
As Nicola Hill, Director, Strategic Marketing, Pharma/Chem Markets, Thomson Scientific, comments: “Customers were telling us about the need to integrate our products. But Thomson Pharma takes it to another level. By integrating all the best scientific, patent, healthcare, and financial content owned by Thomson into a single solution, it offers something our customers have never seen before.”
The future: enhancing Thomson Pharma
Going forward, the Thomson Pharma development team are looking to enhance the solution with powerful analysis and collaboration tools. They are also looking to add content drawn from the Newport Strategies, BIOSIS, and IDRAC businesses. They are getting feedback from customers to prioritize what to do next.
And at Online Information in London in November 2004, exactly a year after the concept was first introduced to customers, the first live version of Thomson Pharma was unveiled.