Life Sciences & Healthcare Face Challenges in 2020

BEIJING, CN. May 26, 2020 – The global industry leading the fight against COVID-19 will be one of those facing fundamental change in the aftermath, according to a new survey.

“We completed a global survey of the Life Sciences and Healthcare industry just weeks before the pandemic hit,” says team leader Eric Bouteiller of Cornerstone Beijing. “Key findings of the survey have been profiled in developments since.”

The survey by Cornerstone International Group presents a portrait of a global industry heavily fragmented.  Regulations are global for reasons of patient safety and product standards — but are applied differently from one country to another. The efficient provision of goods and services follow market-based principles —  but the medical community and each State determine how people are treated.

This fractured globalization continues with new regulations such as those governing health data.

“The treatment of genetics data by insurers is very different between neighbours Canada and the US,” says one survey participant. “You can imagine how much worse it gets in other countries.”

Respondents regularly identified issues which have since become prominent.  Digitization in the search for standard procedures was a pre-pandemic bottleneck. For big hospitals, managing information has become more critical than clinical or bench work.

A shortage of talent extends through the sector from technology and IT skills to the complexity of leadership.  Fragmentation and the high speed of development has made it a challenge to find CEOs able to strategize while being strong in their own health field.

“It is hard to find anything good about a pandemic,” says Bouteiller, “but we have been reminded forcibly that a healthy lifestyle and environment is one of the primary goals of our society.  And how that can be both complex and fragile”.

The survey is based on interviews with 50 industry leaders in 12 countries. Read or download the full survey report “Key  Challenges: Life Sciences and Healthcare 2020”.

Cornerstone International Group is an executive search and leadership development organization with 52 offices in 37 countries.  It has headquarters in China and the United States and a global Life Sciences & Healthcare practice directed by Team Leaders globally. More information is available at: www.cornerstone-group.com

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