The DigiPharmaX 2016--Digital Pharma Excellence Awards 2016 were held on June 24 at ITC Grand Central, Mumbai. The awards recognise the excellence in Digital in the Pharma industry and is the country's first award of this kind.
Presented by BW Businessworld, the award ceremony was conceptualised & organised by Dreamz & Integrated--Marketing & Communications and the platinum partners included Microsoft, Global Space Technologies, while the media partners included Chronicle Pharmabiz, Pharma Focus Asia and Pharma Bio World. The awards included 15 categories of excellence in the digital space.
Inaugurating the awards session, Anurag Batra, Chairman, BW Businessworld said, "We at Businessworld are happy to partner with this awards ceremony. Businessworld is in the business of building communities and we have approached almost 10 million page views. I hope this initiative will grow and become a marquee initiative in this domain in the coming time. In the coming few weeks, Businessworld plans to have an increased engagement with the pharma sector."
Rajendra Pratap Gupta, Chairman, Personal Connected Health Alliance (PCHA) India, who was the Chief Guest on the occasion, spoke about how digital is impacting the pharma industry. He said, "Digital is a disruption and it is not limited to any particular sector- look at Kodak, Telecom and Television industry and how digital has impacted these sectors. There is enough role for technology in healthcare and the ecosystem already has seen what technology can do to the sector, examples being the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation Limited (TNMSC), Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and the Mother & Child Tracking System (MCTS)."
Highlighting the scope of technology in pharma in the coming years, Gupta added, "By 2018-19, the growth of broadband will also impact the pharma sector and we will witness the use of software as a drug, which has already been shaping up the ecosystem in the form of mobile apps etc."
Speaking during a panel discussion about the role of technology in pharma, Arvind K Agrawal, CFO, Ajanta Pharma Limited, said, "Technology provides you with the much needed edge in today's world and I would already like to credit technology for the way it has impacted the sector so far. But, I feel the challenge in the sector is about how to convince people internally to adopt new technology."
Reiterating the role of technology in today's pharma industry, Jean-Pierre Baylet, General Manager, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Sanofi Pasteur India Pvt Ltd, added, "Emergence of new technology has impacted the industry in a big way. Technology has also helped us to innovate in many ways and that is ultimately going to benefit the industry at large in the coming time."
During the Awards ceremony, Cipla Wockhardt, Abbott, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson emerged among the top three winners of DigiPharmaX 2016.
Here is the complete list of winners at DigiPharmaX 2016:
1. Rising Digital Star of the Year---Cipla/ Wockhardt
2. Digitally Visible Company of the Year----Abbott/GlaxoSmithKline
3. Digital Pioneer of the Year Award-----Pfizer/ Johnson & Johnson
4. Leveraging Technology in Supply Chain Management---Zydus Cadila
5. Leveraging Technology for HR---Zydus Cadila
6. Leveraging Technology for Learning and Development-Wockhardt
7. Leveraging Technology for Use of Both digital & Onsite Promotion For Integrated Digital Marketing---Glenmark
8. Leveraging Technology for Digital Community Building---Johnson & Johnson
9. Leveraging Technology for R&D---Ind Swift
10. Leveraging Technology for Pharma Social Media Campaign---Johnson & Johnson
11. Leveraging Technology for Brand Building-Zydus Cadila
12. Leveraging Technology for Enhanced Customer Engagement-JK Ansell
13. Leveraging Technology for Use of Mobile Application-Alkem
14. Leveraging Technology for Better Patient Management-Abbott
15. Leveraging Technology for Sales Force Excellence-Wockhardt
