Pharmaceutical Executive Europe - September 2008 - (Page 20) Executive Profile knows that it begins with pharma, where NNIT has a considerable ‘head start.’ “We have an extremely good name in Denmark; everyone who knows Novo Nordisk instantly knows us. And of course we are taking full advantage of that,” he says. “Our pharmaceutical offering is what differentiates us internationally. Our ability to offer a wall-to-wall service. We have the heritage; we have domain knowledge. We are very competitive when it comes to our core capabilities.” “The commercial relationship between us and Novo Nordisk is an arms-length one… We are completely free to do what we want.” This has been in evidence recently in what NNIT has called its breakthrough into the European pharma industry. In June the company announced it had entered into “double-digit-million-Euro” contracts with Nycomed and Solvay after “fierce competition” with other global IT companies. The deal with Solvay is an outsourcing agreement on the operation and maintenance of their document management system used for drug submissions. For Nycomed, the company will be developing and implementing a new clinical data warehouse. “Solvay has been on our radar for some time, but initially we were not invited to make an offer,” says Kogut. Still, NNIT saw there was a direct link between Solvay’s requirements and what they had delivered previously. “So we conveyed to them that we could actually run their entire IT operation. It was a long process; it took around a year. But we had the time and the patience to wait until they were ready — we don’t have a pushy culture.” The Nycomed deal also took some time to finalise. “In the end they based their choice of us on our reputation in Denmark,” adds Kogut. As well the support he has from NNIT’s existing reputation, Kogut’s experience in other industries has been instrumental in outlining his vision for IT in pharma, which he believes is playing a more crucial role than ever. “If you look back 20 years or so, any international or major local bank would have said ‘ IT, that’s just a tool we use.’ But today, it’s one of their services — take internet banking, for example. That shift is happening in the pharma industry now, 20 years later,” he says. “ IT today is an integral part of the industry, from clinical trials to marketing. And when it comes to the complex integration and internationalisation elements, companies like ours are the ones that can offer solutions.” The Novo heritage But does a company so strongly affiliated with a major pharma organisation run up against any resistance when it offers its services to ‘competitive’ companies? Kogut says not, and is keen to establish his independence from his Big Pharma NNIT’s headquarters in Lyngby, Denmark. 22 Regulatory Affairs Will the FDA/EMEA joint inspection programme work? 25 Last Words The month’s key events from the industry’s mouth. 4 News A round-up of the last four weeks in pharma. 7 Calendar Upcoming conferences and exhibitions.
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