LogiPharma Europe 2025: Harnessing Technology to Advance Operations and Patient Impact

PC: How can technology play a role in implementing these changes, and what challenges can it help overcome?

Lang: Technology has fundamentally changed our lives outside of work—and it has also brought significant transformation and opportunity within the workplace. In operations, we always assess technology through the lens of how it can help us improve our key outcomes: compliance with GMP regulations, the highest standards of workplace safety, and supply reliability. We don’t want to miss a single patient.

Environmental sustainability is another area where we are on a longer-term journey, and we recognize the responsibility we carry.

And last but not least, there’s the cost of manufacturing. Over the past 10 to 15 years, we’ve seen tremendous impact across all dimensions, and the pace of change is only accelerating. It all starts with planning—forecasting flows through the entire value chain, from manufacturing to delivery and ultimately reaching the patient. This journey is ongoing.

What truly matters is that we remain focused. We never implement technology for its own sake—we do it to move the needle on the outcomes that matter most. These are closely aligned with our mission: to bring medicines to patients, and to extend and improve lives.

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.