AstraZeneca hands omnichannel ops mandate to Indegene

The deal calls for Indegene to handle the drugmaker's omnichannel operations globally.

AstraZeneca is handing over its omnichannel operations mandate to life-sci commercialization firm Indegene , as per a deal announced by the firms Wednesday.

Terms were not immediately disclosed.

The pact calls for Indegene to scale up AstraZeneca’s omnichannel operations globally as the drugmaker looks to create more personalized customer experiences across its brands and campaigns. Additionally, it offers AstraZeneca last-mile flexibility to adjust how campaigns should fit in a specific therapy area or geography.

Traditionally, pharma has dealt with the various components of omnichannel execution — such as digital content, marketing automation and customer data platforms — as individual work streams. Companies have either outsourced such work or cultivated the capabilities from within.

“What pharma is realizing is that in order to drive better omnichannel experiences for customers — whether it’s HCPs, patients or other stakeholders — these towers need to talk to one another,” said Sanjay Parikh , executive director/EVP at Indegene. “The idea is to bring together the different components needed to drive great omnichannel customer experiences.”

Indegene will work to deliver services through a variety of its partners, including vendors like Veeva , Tealium and web-based content management systems, Parikh said, adding that the deal originated in AZ’s UK-based central global business services group.

“I’m seeing more clients saying, ‘How do we bring these [workstreams] together?’ — especially because these large organizations are complex and the capabilities have gotten siloed,” he said. “Pharma is now breaking down silos to bring these together in the marketing space, with the sales force and — down the road — medical affairs. Stay tuned. There will be a lot of action in this industry, for sure.”