LogiPharma Europe 2025: Reimagining Operations to Deliver the Future of Personalized Medicine

PC: Earlier this morning, you led a keynote case study on “reimagining operations.” What was the premise of the presentation?

Lang: At Novartis, we are focused on reimagining medicine—pioneering new treatments, discovering innovative delivery methods, and ultimately extending and improving patients' lives. For our operations team, this means rethinking the entire way we work. Significant changes are required in how we forecast demand, prepare medicines, and deliver them to patients. Many of today’s therapies are highly individualized and designed for smaller patient populations, which calls for very different processes than those used in the past. This shift has been a central theme of our transformation over the past 10 to 15 years—one that we’ve been proud to help pioneer across the industry.

Full Interview Summary: At LogiPharma, Steffen Lang outlined Novartis’ vision as a focused medicines company, emphasizing its ongoing transformation across operations to support the delivery of individualized, next-generation therapies. With many of today’s treatments tailored to smaller patient populations, Novartis is reimagining how it forecasts, manufactures, and delivers medicines to meet evolving patient needs.

A central theme of the discussion was the elevation of operations as a strategic function. No longer viewed as a purely tactical task, operations now serve as a key enabler of innovation—particularly as technological advancements drive significant changes across the value chain. To support this, Novartis prioritizes investment in the right talent, skills, and environment, enabling its teams to adopt and apply cutting-edge technologies in meaningful ways.

Technology was highlighted as a critical driver of transformation. At Novartis, digital tools are not implemented for their novelty, but for their measurable impact on key outcomes—such as GMP compliance, patient safety, environmental sustainability, supply reliability, and cost efficiency. From planning and forecasting to manufacturing and distribution, technology is embedded end-to-end to ensure patients receive their therapies on time, every time.

Looking ahead, Novartis remains focused on four core therapeutic areas: oncology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience, and immunology. The company’s pipeline is supported by five key technology platforms—small molecules, biologics, cell and gene therapies, xRNA, and radioligand therapies—with the expectation of a sixth platform emerging in the near future. Operations teams are preparing now to scale delivery once these products are ready.

Finally, Lang noted key areas for continued industry collaboration, including digital transformation, sustainability, and workforce training. As Novartis continues to pioneer new ways to bring breakthrough therapies to patients, the company remains committed to sharing insights and driving collective progress across the pharmaceutical ecosystem.