Life Sciences

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The Life Sciences sector contributes to our most important possession: our health. The sector’s primary goal is to find and produce solutions that can cure or even prevent diseases. Because Life Sciences has many different players (startups, biotech, pharmaceuticals, medical technology and diagnostic firms), the sector has various challenges. The Life Sciences landscape is changing because data is becoming ever more important, but also due to the ever changing regulations and compliance requirements, opportunities for mergers and acquisitions and complex supply chains.

Our team of professionals is ready to support you in the following areas:

The Netherlands is leading the way internationally in the discussion about the pricing of drugs, making it a good testing ground for innovative, commercial and pricing strategies. Fair pricing is a process of finding an acceptable middle way between what is regarded by society as a good expenditure of the health budget and need for Life Sciences firms to finance their research, production and distribution.

KPMG has helped many Life Sciences customers to define a commercial strategy that enables them to navigate through the complexity of the stakeholder landscape. Examples of commercial solutions range from value-based prices, combination therapy prices and other commercial frameworks.

The Netherlands is leading the discussion internationally regarding pricing of medicines, and therefore is a fertile ground for innovative commercial and pricing strategies. Fair pricing is a process of finding an acceptable middle ground between what society perceives as sound spending of health budgets versus the need on the part of Life Sciences companies to fund their model of discovery, manufacturing and distribution.

KPMG has helped many Life Sciences clients to define a commercial strategy enabling them to navigate through the complexity of the stakeholder landscape. Examples of commercial solutions vary from value-based pricing, combination therapy pricing and other commercial frameworks. 

Due to the downward pressure on prices, the shift from treatment to prevention and trends like new therapies, technological progress and consumer-led healthcare, suppliers within Life Sciences need to reconsider their business models. At KPMG we understand that every supply chain provides an answer to a specific business model. Which is why we have identified three archetypes for which a corresponding supply chain can be built, namely an active portfolio company, a virtual value chain orchestrator and a niche specialist.

When supporting our customers during their supply chain transformations, ranging from network optimisation, sourcing, production efficiency to reliability of supply, we always keep the ultimate objective in mind and we are able to translate the final result to succinct actions and solutions that can improve performance.

In a world characterised by continual disruption, Life Sciences executives need to be able to rely on their decisions, and that means they need to have confidence in their data, their algorithms and their analytical options. The Data & Analytics professionals at KPMG understand that analytics can create great value. For this reasons, our professionals adopt a 'business first’ perspective, heling to resolve complex business challenges with the help of analytics that customers can rely on.

Data & Analytics professionals focus on solving complex issues relating to growth, operational excellence and risks and compliance. This results in reliable analytical solutions and services which business leaders can build on to increase revenue, reduce costs and manage risks.

For organisations that have their cyberstrategies in order, new technology is not a threat but rather a chance to take advantage of the opportunities offered by new technology optimally and with conviction. KPMG maps out the risks to your organisation and minimises them by applying a tailored strategy. We do so proactively and with consideration for the human factor, because cybersecurity is much more than information technology and compliance with rules alone.

The Life Sciences sector is characterised by an increase in M&A transactions over the past two years. There has been an increased interest in the acquisition of digital enablers and early-stage companies. The question that arises is how you integrate a business that is often organised differently and to what extent integration is necessary. The big pharma companies, for example, will want to set up an efficient acquisition and integration structure in order to absorb early-stage products within their own processes.  Integrating a digital enabler calls for a different approach which is above all about linking in with the specific capability of the digital enabler. KPMG helps Life Sciences firms to determine their integration strategies, taking account of the different characters and maturity levels of the combined organisations. The decisive factor here is the value that the acquiring party wants to gain from the acquisition. Based on the integration strategy, together with the customer we develop the operating model and an approach to translate it into practice. We bring in our sector specialists, so that industry-specific issues such as legislation and regulations and patents are also addressed.

Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology companies, clinical laboratories and organisations for medical aids need to prepare themselves for and lead a new wave of regulations and enforcement. Failure to comply with the changing regulations can have serious consequences, such as fines, criminal prosecution and exclusion.

KPMG can help you evaluate your operational management and monitor programmes in order to proactively prevent problems. If necessary, we will investigate and confirm your efforts to obviate the possible consequences of alleged compliance errors. We can assist you in all phases of the compliance cycle. From developing a robust compliance programme through benchmarking, investigation and remediation to restoration in the case of alleged misconduct or non-compliance with the regulations.

Audits of annual financial statements offer reassurance with regard to the information used by investors and the capital markets. This is a responsibility with regard to the public interest that KPMG’s audit professionals take very seriously. They use powerful D&A procedures to gather better monitoring information, obtain deeper insight and to investigate the role that auditors can and must perform. They do so by communicating with stakeholders via the KPMG 'Value of Audit’ forum. KPMG Audit professionals innovate constantly in order to be able to serve the capital markets and society at large better.

The rising cost of research & development (R&D) and the shorter life cycle of products, combined with the increased risks, are having a negative effect on the investment and productivity returns of Life Sciences companies. In addition, the days of the 'one size fits all’ are gone. This is partly due to the increasing popularity of personalised medicine, the focus on micropopulations, including indication slicing and rare and orphan diseases, and a reduction in the number of qualifying patient populations. Governments, insurers and patients are demanding greater transparency about the prices of drugs. Combined with a rising demand for healthcare and falling budgets, this puts pressure on Life Sciences companies to reduce costs and prices. One way for firms to address this price pressure is to streamline their R&D.  

For more information about what KPMG can do for your business, please contact our specialists:

• Commercial and pricing strategy, David Ikkersheim
• Data & Analytics, Bas Overtoom
• Audit, Bas Geerling
  
• Tax efficiency, Jeroen Kuppens